


Now And Again

by RaeDMagdon



Series: Now [3]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-02-09 21:14:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1998054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeDMagdon/pseuds/RaeDMagdon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liara has spent the last two years waiting for Shepard to return, but now that her lover is truly back from the dead, she finds that the reality of their situation is not nearly as simple as she hoped. She must learn to accept her old pain and find a new way forward as the galaxy threatens to collapse around her. (Shepard/Liara, sequel to For Now And Always).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, guys. Sorry it took me so long to put this back up! This is the second version of 'Now And Again', the sequel to 'For Now And Always'. Like the first story, it will incorporate some dialogue from the games, although I'm trying to add a lot more original material than last time. It will rely heavily on flashbacks, although not in every chapter, and not always in order. Some of the material from the original version will make a reappearance - for example, the first section of this chapter. I'm hoping that by jumping back and forth between the past, where Liara rescues Shepard's body, and the present, where she has to confront what bringing her lover back from the dead actually means to her, I will be able to show her emotions in a very intense context. Expect updates on Wednesdays (or Thursdays sometimes).

_She was running again. Running through the ship as it shook and lurched around her. Loose wires sparked, and fire rained down from the ceiling. Everything was burning. The floor, the walls, even the people. She could hear screams over the dull wail of the warning sirens, could see shadows running through the thick smoke and flickering lights. Some of them fell, but there was no time to stop and check._

_A loud boom tore through her skull, through the roof above her. The Normandy shuddered, and she lost her balance. Stumbled. Fell to one side. When she braced herself against the metal wall, she could feel heat even through her armor. Another blast nearly made her drop her helmet, but she managed to clutch it tight to her side. She pushed off the wall and sprinted around a burst of fire, nearly tripping over another corpse. Bodies were everywhere. Human, but as far as she could see, none of them belonged to Shepard. Shepard, who had left her with a kiss and a promise to be back from the mission before she even woke up. And after Saren's defeat, Liara had actually started to believe those promises…_

_She sped up the stairs and down the walkway, ignoring the sharp burn in her lungs. Smoke filled her mouth, and she coughed to get it out, desperately trying to take in fresh air. But there was none to be found. Only the taste of fire. And then, at last, a familiar figure. She knew that armor. It had come charging out of nowhere to save her so many times, always surrounded by waves of blue. Now, the air around it glowed red. "Shepard!"_

_Shepard pulled a helmet over her head and turned around just in time to meet her. "The distress beacon is ready for launch."_

_She hurried to put her own helmet on. She could not keep breathing without it. Her chest already ached with the effort. "Will the Alliance get here in time?"_

_The ship rocked beneath them, and she threw her hands out, clutching at Shepard's shoulders as she tried to regain her balance. Shepard remained steady and helped her to straighten up again. "The Alliance won't abandon us," she said, darting one side to grab for one of the fire extinguishers near the weapons locker. "We just need to hold on. Get everyone on the escape shuttle!"_

_The fire extinguisher flew toward her. Somehow, she managed to catch it. Her hands shook as she pulled it against her chest. She had no idea what she was doing. She could not put out an entire ship with one extinguisher… but perhaps she could clear a path so that they could make it to the shuttle… She turned her back to Shepard, spraying down the wall of fire rushing towards them. Even after the flames at her feet died down, the wave of heat was unbearable. She still couldn't breathe._

_Then, Liara remembered the reason she had gone this way to look for Shepard in the first place. "Joker's still in the cockpit. He won't evacuate." She looked back over her shoulder, but Shepard refused to turn around. She was elbow-deep in some kind of emergency fuse box, pulling at wires. Liara's eyes stung, and she knew it was not from the smoke. "I'm not leaving you…"_

_"I need you to get the crew to the evac shuttle. I'll take care of Joker." Before she could say a word, Shepard turned and started toward the cockpit, grabbing the fire extinguisher from her hands._

_"Shepard!"_

_"Liara, go! Now."_

_She froze. Even though the Normandy was falling apart around her, she could not force her legs to move. Every fiber of her being called for her to reach out, to pull Shepard back and drag her away from the fire. She could not even see the cockpit through the oily clouds smoke. The only thing in that direction was a large smear of black and grey dotted with flickering sparks of fire. She could not let Shepard go that way alone._

_But then Shepard looked at her. Liara could not see her face through the dark visor of her helmet, but she could picture her lover's expression perfectly. The strong jaw, set with determination. The hard eyes. She had seen Shepard at her most vulnerable, her most human, but in moments like this, she became something far greater. Something more like a god than a mortal being. She was an unstoppable force._

_She knew she would not change Shepard's mind. This was who she was. What she was. She lifted her shaking arm and threw a salute. "Aye aye."_

. . .

Liara woke with a hard jerk, gasping as she reached out for someone who was no longer there. She was alone, as always. There was no more fire, only the safe darkness of her bedroom. The sheets were twisted around her legs, and they were soaked through with sweat. She shivered as the cold air touched her slick, overheated skin, struggling to catch her breath. Even though she knew she wasn't in any real danger, the memory was reluctant to relinquish its hold on her. She could still feel the kiss of the fire, could still see Shepard's ghostly face fading away past the smoke shot through with sparks.

Slowly, her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, and the shadows around her took on clearer forms. She had lived in this apartment for over a year now, but it did not feel like home. Home was the small room behind the Normandy's medical bay, the Captain's cabin, the safety of Shepard's arms. The outlines of the furniture here were still unfamiliar, and the smell, while clean, was all wrong. It was all too obvious that Shepard had never lived here - and that she did not really want to live here without her. Even her bedroom was depressingly sterile despite the Prothean artifacts she had brought in to make herself feel more comfortable.

She kicked the covers the rest of the way off, freeing her legs so that she could turn toward her nightstand. The picture of the Normandy was there, just as it always was. She had looked to it for comfort more times than she could count. She had thought of putting Shepard's picture in its place, but couldn't bring herself to keep her missing lover's face so close. Especially not now that she was alive again.

In some ways, the fact that Shepard was awake, wandering the galaxy and fighting the good fight without her, was almost more painful than searching for her body, or even waiting and wondering if Cerberus would be able to bring her back to life. She had possessed some measure of control then, and she had been able to focus on clear, obvious goals: Retrieve Shepard's corpse. Get her to Cerberus. Search for Feron. Prepare for the return of the Reapers.

But no matter how hard she pushed herself, she couldn't forget. Her memories kept her awake for days at a time, and when her body finally reached the point of exhaustion, she could not fight it. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth, and she swallowed hard, certain she could still taste smoke. She blinked until she no longer saw columns of fire eating away at the walls. That was the reason she didn't sleep anymore. Whenever her mind slipped into unconsciousness, her last moments with Shepard replayed in her head, and they were far worse than any nightmare.

She sighed and climbed out of bed, still shaking from the surge of adrenaline that had woken her up. There would be no going back to sleep now. Carefully, she set the picture of the Normandy back on her nightstand. It was comforting to see it like that, drifting peacefully through space. Sometimes, she could even imagine that she and Shepard were still aboard, back before everything had fallen apart.

Reluctantly, she turned her head away from the picture. Dwelling on the past wouldn't do her any good. The present was confusing enough. Instead, she reached for the robe hanging on the back of the closet door and hurried for the stairs as quickly as her exhausted body would let her. She spent as little time as possible in her bedroom these days. It was a painful reminder of what she had lost. Even though she and Shepard had only spent a few peaceful months together after the end of the war, she had grown used to sharing a bed.

The downstairs rooms of her apartment were only slightly more bearable than the loft where she slept. It was too large, too empty, too clean. She hardly spent any time here, and some nights, she even preferred to sleep in her office. Her work was the only fragment of peace she had managed to claim for herself since everything went wrong. She padded into the kitchen, and her face fell when she saw the numbers on the clock. Only two in the morning. It was still far too early for her to leave her apartment. She would have to stay here a few more hours at least.

Determined to do something with herself now that she was awake, Liara took a seat at the kitchen table. Her eyes drifted toward the tea maker sitting on the counter by the sink, but she decided against it and activated her Omnitool instead. She wasn't surprised to see an alert blinking at her from the glowing orange screen. Sometimes, Nyxeris stayed up working almost as late as she did. But when she opened it, her chest tightened with surprise. The message scrolling across her screen was not from her assistant.

The name-of-sender field was blank, and the message itself was only two words long: She's coming. A string of numbers followed, and Liara immediately recognized them as a date and time. Three days. Shepard would be arriving on Illium in three days.

"She's coming," Liara whispered under her breath, terrified that if she spoke the words too loudly, they would disappear from her screen. "She's coming  _here_." But the words did not vanish. They stayed there, hovering before her. She swiped at her stinging eyes even though her tears stubbornly refused to fall. She had not felt this way since Agent Lawson's very first update on Shepard's status. That message had also only contained two words: _She's alive._

She lowered her shaking hands back down into her lap and stared at the wall, not truly seeing anything in front of her. A slow smile pulled at her lips, and the tight coil of tension in her chest, the one that normally choked her heart, finally began to loosen. She had waited what felt like a lifetime for this moment. Part of her was afraid that her joy was premature, but she couldn't help herself. It had been two years since she had been in the same room as Shepard while she was alive. Two years since she had held her. Two years since she had heard her name spoken in Shepard's loving, familiar voice. And, of course, two years since she had kissed her.

"That's what I'll do first," Liara decided. No matter what else happened, she needed another kiss. Proof that everything she had done, everything she had sacrificed, all of the pain she had endured was worth it. Proof that Shepard was truly back from the dead.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Omega, 2183_ **

Afterlife was not the first club that Liara had visited, but it was by far the loudest. The throbbing beat of the bass made the air pulse, and bodies of all shapes and sizes moved between the tables and across the dance floor. It reminded her a little of Flux, and she felt a sudden stab of regret. She had never liked the place, but she did remember going there with Shepard and asking for a dance. Unfortunately, that was one promise Shepard had not been able to keep before her death.

_'Disappearance,'_  Liara corrected herself automatically. _'There is no proof that Shepard is dead.'_  Even though she knew the chances of survival were slim, Shepard had escaped impossible situations before. She would not believe her lover was truly gone until she saw the body for herself.

She sighed and cast another hopeful glance along the length of the bar. This was where her contact had instructed her to wait, but so far, the only person to approach was a sad-looking elcor. At least, she thought he was sad. It was difficult to tell with their species. After a moment of indecision, she decided that asking him for help would do no harm. "Excuse me," she said, taking the seat beside him, "have you seen a drell pass this way recently? I'm looking for someone."

The elcor turned his large body toward her and gave a slow shake of his head. "No [annoyed to be bothered], I haven't seen anyone like that here. Nor have I been looking [said standoffishly]. What do you think I am, [using an old joke], the bar's information minister?"

Liara tried to give him an appeasing look. "I didn't mean to offend. I just thought…"

"You thought because I was an elcor [a little miffled], I wouldn't be watching the gyrating flesh-things all day." Liara followed his gaze, casting a cold eye on a pretty maiden dancing on top of the bar. Such displays had never interested her before, and without Shepard by her side, they were even more unappealing. Suddenly, she felt much older than her one hundred and six years. Looking around Afterlife and watching the patrons waste their credits on cheap thrills only depressed her more.

Before she could explain that she had only asked because he was sitting nearby, another voice, tinged with just a hint of gravel, came from the other end of the bar. "You have to love the elcor… They've got all the expressiveness of your typical tree. If they didn't explain the nuance of what they're saying, it'd be like talking to one."

Liara gazed past the giant mountain of grey that was the elcor's chest, and was only a little surprised to see a hooded drell looking back at her. A drink was clutched in his hand, and even though he was sitting, his posture was not relaxed. He was obviously waiting for someone... waiting for her.

"You," she whispered as the light crept under his hood, illuminating the scaled pattern of his face. She had seen that face before just a few days ago, on a grainy holo projection. Her eyes lowered to the drink in his hand again. She hoped it was expensive, because she had parted with a lot of credits for the information this drell claimed he possessed. "You have something to tell me about-"

The drell shook his head and stood up from his seat, leaving the drink behind. "No. Not here. Outside." He swept off without another word, and Liara had to scramble around the elcor's massive bulk in order to follow him. Unwilling to appear suspicious, she kept a few yards back, slipping silently through the crowd. That was one advantage to meeting on Omega, and probably one of the reasons her mysterious contact had insisted on it: with all the different types of people on the disreputable station, it was easy to blend in.

Finally, Liara caught up with the hooded drell a few steps outside the club, but only after he had ducked into one of Omega's many empty alleyways. "It's not really safe walking around asking questions on Omega, even if you're from around here," he said as she matched his stride. "The information you're looking for wasn't easy to find, not even for me."

Hope stirred in Liara's chest. She did not care how difficult Shepard had been to locate or how many credits she had spent. If there was the slightest chance… She could not wait any longer. "What do you know about- ah!"

The drell grabbed her arm, yanking her around yet another corner. She flared her biotics instinctively, making a muffled noise of surprise as his hand clapped over her mouth, but the drell let her go as soon as they were out of sight. "Sorry… we were being followed."

Liara let the glowing light around her fists flicker out. She could not afford to be angry or rash now, not when she was so close. "By who?"

"I'm not sure yet, but whoever they are, I don't want them listening in. I'm Feron." He lowered his hood so that Liara could see more of his face. "And you're right. I do know where Commander Shepard is, but you won't like what I have to tell you."

A flash of cold crept beneath Liara's skin. She had known that finding Shepard alive was unlikely, perhaps even impossible, but confirmation of her fears was even worse than the torturous uncertainty that she had been forced to endure for the past month."Dead?" she asked. The word fell heavily from her lips, and she lowered her eyes to the ground. She did not want this stranger to witness all of her pain.

"Yes, or very close to it. It's hard to say. The body has been recovered in some kind of stasis pod…" Liara looked up. Maybe she had surrendered herself to grief too quickly. If the body was in a stasis pod, that meant there had been something worthwhile to preserve. It was a starting point, at least. "If she's not dead, then she's definitely not alive. I know you came a long way. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

"I need to see for myself." After everything that had happened, after all she had been through, she needed to know. To find out if Shepard was truly gone. To save her if she could, and say a proper goodbye if she couldn't. Liara's eyes stung as she remembered staring after Shepard's retreating back, watching her disappear into the smoke as the sirens wailed around them. She would not let Shepard go so easily this time.

Feron did not look convinced. "Liara, you're not the only one interested in finding Shepard. I suggest you let the dead sleep."

Her grief quickly swelled into a wave of anger, and her fingers curled into her palms, tightening until the blood drained from her hands and left them tingling. Images of Sovereign flashed in her head, woven through with ancient memories of large, sleek black shapes. They glowed with threads of crimson light. She blinked, forcing down Shepard's old visions and breathing to calm her heart rate. She had tried to push her fear of the Reapers into the deepest corners of her mind since Shepard's disappearance. If she thought about them for too long, she would not be able to continue on. Losing Shepard had torn her apart, but thinking about the return of the Reapers would unravel her completely.

Once she had regained most of her composure, Liara narrowed her eyes at Feron and spoke from between clenched teeth. "I'm afraid you don't understand. Without Commander Shepard, the entire galaxy is lost." She did not say the other words that were pounding through her head. _'Without Shepard, I am lost...'_

. . .

_**Illium, 2185** _

"Have you ever faced an asari commando unit before?"

The man above the holo projector reached back to scratch his neck in a nervous gesture. At first, it looked as though he might laugh. But Liara held his gaze, and slowly, he began to realize that she was being serious. She saw the instant his amusement became surprise, and her lips curled into a dangerous smile as his disbelief was quickly replaced with fear. Humans, particularly the males, tended to underestimate her people… at least until they were reminded of just how much harm a squad of well-trained biotics could do to a vulnerable body.

"Few humans have." She deliberately ignored his sputtering and lifted her datapad, scrolling through the expense reports. His debt wasn't too extravagant, but she had her reputation to consider. If her contacts thought they could start slacking on their payments, she would never bring in enough money to continue her search for Feron, or to help Shepard.

_'Shepard...'_  Sometimes, just thinking her old lover's name brought back the tide of memories that so often swept her away. They were even stronger now, with only one more day until the Normandy arrived on Illium. She had already paid Shepard's docking fees in advance, even though she still had a good thirty standard hours to wait by Miranda Lawson's last report. She just hoped that the woman who walked through her door would be the same Shepard that she had lost two years ago. Knowing Cerberus, it wasn't a guarantee.

Remembering that she was still on a call, she lowered the datapad again, hoping the man hadn't noticed her brief lapse. "I'll make this simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive… with my mind."

The sound of footsteps coming from the doorway nearly made her jump, and she hurried to end the transmission without waiting for his response. Without even turning around, she knew who she would see. Her presence was like a physical touch, familiar even after all this time. She closed her eyes, fighting her instincts to run into Shepard's arms. Part of her was terrified that she would pass through them, that Shepard wasn't really here, and this was just another one of her increasingly vivid daydreams. Or nightmares. These days, it was difficult to tell the two apart. She would turn around, just as she did whenever Shepard entered her small room behind the medical bay, and...

"Shepard." The name came to her lips so easily, so fluidly, that she could almost believe she was back on the SR-1, wearing her unflattering but practical green and white jumpsuit. And the smile on Shepard's face was familiar. Just the same as it had always been. Each freckle was in its proper place. There were a few extra lines, one or two small red cracks that already seemed to be healing over, but the shape and contour were still there. She was alive. Really and truly alive.

It was difficult, almost painful to drag her eyes away from Shepard's body - the body she had sacrificed so much to save - and look over her shoulder, but she cast a brief glance at her assistant. Nyxeris was lingering by the door, watching with more interest than necessary. "Nyxeris, hold my calls…" The rest of the dismissal was implied. Nyxeris backed out of the room and shut the door.

And then she was alone. Alone with the woman she had loved and lost. Alone with the woman she loved still.

"You're a day early," she murmured, trying to memorize Shepard's face even though it was already seared into her brain. If she had lived another thousand years without seeing her again, she still would not have forgotten it. "It seems Miranda Lawson's estimates were wrong."

Shepard's smile grew wider, more uneven and less hesitant. "She didn't count on a few things."

Liara took a cautious step forward. When Shepard remained where she was instead of fading away, she let out a small sigh of relief. Carefully, she reached out to take Shepard's gloved hands in hers. Not as good as skin contact, but it would do for now. At least she was solid to the touch. "Like what?"

"That another day was too long to wait." Shepard's thumbs skated over the backs of her knuckles, around the side of her palm. "That I've spent the past month walking around like half a person without you." She leaned forward, and Liara could not find it in herself to pull away. Even if this was another dream, she did not want it to end. "That I love you, and I can't go another minute without kissing you to make sure you're real."

The knowledge that Shepard felt just as uncertain as she did nearly broke her heart, but as soon as Shepard's lips touched hers, it began mending itself again. The past disappeared, and all she could focus on was the present. The present, where Shepard was kissing her, stroking the back of her crest, coaxing her lips open. Even her taste was the same. Warm, with a slight edge of salt and desire.

"I missed you," Shepard whispered into her lips, and she shuddered as a firm hand cupped the small of her back. "And I came back… just like I promised."

Tears burned in Liara's eyes, and she rested her cheek against Shepard's chestplate, not even minding the cold surface of her armor. As long as the flesh beneath it was warm again. "Yes. Just like you promised."


	3. Chapter 3

**_Omega, 2183_ **

“The entire galaxy? Lost?” Feron’s scaled brow lowered, and he narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit melodramatic? I know she was your girlfriend, but...”

Liara took a deep breath in through her nose, but she did not loosen the clenched fists at her sides. “I guess my words didn’t translate clearly. I said, I need to see Shepard. I paid you in advance, and I expect you to deliver the information you promised.”

The drell took a cautious step back and shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, it’s your money. Your life.”

Liara frowned. Sometimes, it did not feel like this was her life anymore. She had watched Shepard walk away from her again and again in her nightmares, and when she wasn’t asleep, red beams of light and metallic teeth flashed behind her eyes. But there was no way to explain how she felt, and no one to listen to her even if she wanted to. “I don’t care how much it costs, as long as we find…” She froze, and her voice trailed off as something echoed behind her in the empty alleyway. Footfalls, and a soft click that almost sounded like… “Rifle!”

She did not have to say anything else. Feron whirled around and drew his pistol from his coat, plastering himself flat against the nearest wall. If he had been a second slower, he would not have survived. A group of blue-armored figures burst around the corner, leading with their assault rifles and firing blindly. Liara threw up her hand, deflecting the shots with a barrier as she followed Feron’s example and ran for the wall.

She was not quick enough. One of the figures threw aside his rifle and grabbed for her in desperation, hooking a powerful elbow around her throat and yanking one of her arms behind her back. The pressure cut off her air, and her barrier flickered for a moment before she brought her booted foot stomping down on his. He grunted in surprise, and his hold loosened enough for her to breathe.

It was the only opening she needed. A white glow rushed from her shoulders to the tips of her fingers, and she sent her attacker flying with a powerful burst of blue light. Before he landed, more figures surrounded her, forming a circle and aiming their weapons. She counted at least four, and one of them was unmistakably a krogan. Reluctantly, she lowered her arms. She had come a long way since the mines of Therum, but krogan were still incredibly dangerous, and they did not always respond to her biotics.

“Hold it, asari,” the krogan grunted, shoving the barrel of his weapon beside her face. “Keep those biotics in check. You so much as flinch, and you’ll have more gouges in your pretty skull than you were born with.”

Two of the other figures stepped forward, trying to grip her elbows, but Liara jerked away from them despite the krogan’s warning. She would not allow herself to be restrained. Having weapons pointed at her was dangerous enough, and she needed the use of her arms. “What do you want with me?” she asked, holding the krogan’s eyes. She wanted to see what had happened to Feron, but she did not dare to look away.

“You came all the way to Omega looking for someone who’s dead. The Shadow Broker wants to know why.”

At first, Liara blinked in surprise. She had heard of the Shadow Broker, of course. His name was spoken in whispers throughout the galaxy. But what could he possibly want with her, or with Shepard? “My interest is my own, krogan. It is none of the Shadow Broker’s business, and certainly none of yours.”

The krogan snorted. “Everything’s my business, lady, but especially this. Shepard’s a hot commodity. Now, talk, before I decide to-”

There was a loud pop, and Liara flinched as blood spattered out from the krogan’s thick, plated skull. She froze. Shouts came from every direction - “Sniper! Get down!” - but she could not move. It was only the sound of more gunfire coming from above that jolted her out of her stupor. She tripped over the krogan’s body, clambering over his hump and forcing her sluggish legs into a run.

“Liara!”

The sound of her name made her look up, and she saw Feron running toward her. “Move,” she yelled, shoving him in the opposite direction. She had no idea where she was going, but she wanted to put as much distance between herself and the mercenaries as possible. More screams and gunfire came from behind them as they sprinted down another alleyway. “Which way?”

“Just away! Maybe here-” They stumbled around yet another corner and onto a stairway, pulling up short as a new group of armored figures stepped out in front of them. All of them were carrying weapons. Liara clenched her fists, and Feron took a step back. “Or maybe not...”

Before Liara could gather her biotics around her hands, the soldiers lowered their weapons. They were human, she noted, and were not dressed in the same blue armor as the mercenaries. Instead, they wore white, and something about the design tugged at Liara’s memory. Where had she seen humans outfitted like this before?

“Relax, drell.” The presence of a new voice made Liara start. A tall, dark-haired woman pushed her way between the nearest two soldiers, sending them back with a wave of her hand. “We’re working toward the same goal: finding Commander Shepard.”

Liara lowered her fists. Whoever this woman was, she did not appear to be a threat. Her body language was a strange mix of purposeful and seductive, and Liara could not decide whether she moved more like a soldier or a dancer. She wore white, just like the other humans, but her ensemble was much tighter and less protective. Either she was a biotic, or foolish enough to go without armor. A thick black belt was slung about her generous hips, and she had a pistol to go with it. Biotics, then, Liara thought.

“Commander Shepard is dead,” she told the woman, even though part of her still did not believe it. The last thing she needed was someone else trying to steal her lover’s body. The mercenaries had been bad enough, and their mention of the Shadow Broker was even more troubling.

“That’s what they say,” the stranger said. She covered the last remaining distance between them, her boots clicking on each stair until she finally came to a stop. “But Shepard’s no ordinary woman. She’s beaten the odds before. I’m Miranda, and I represent someone who very much wants to meet you. Work with us, and we might be able to bring Shepard back.”

. . .

**  
_Illium, 2185_   
**

“I… I still cannot believe you are standing here,” Liara murmured. She could not bring herself to look up into Shepard’s eyes again. Not yet, while her mouth still trembled and the ghost of their kiss still burned. She had not been entirely sure at first, but as soon as Shepard’s lips had touched hers, she knew. Knew that it was really Shepard, and she was really back. “My sources told me you were alive, that you were coming here, but I didn’t believe…”

“It’s okay,” Shepard whispered. The small crack in her usually confident voice made Liara’s chest swell with love, and the stinging blur behind her eyes became harder to blink away. “Sometimes, I still don’t believe it myself.”

“Why not?”

“Because without you, it didn’t really feel like living.”

Liara’s breath caught. She threw her arms around Shepard’s neck and clung as tightly as she could. Sobs shuddered in her chest, and even though she knew her office was not private, she let them come. Shepard’s arms wrapped around her, and hot tears rolled over her cheeks when she realized that the warm, safe place where she usually tucked herself was still there. For one perfect moment, everything was just as it should have been.

But it did not last for long. The sound of a clearing throat made her start against Shepard’s body. At first, she refused to pull away. She had waited two years to hold Shepard in her arms again, and it was far too soon to let her go. But when she caught a glimpse of white in the door, she reluctantly eased Shepard’s arm from around her waist and took a step back. She turned, hiding the angle of her face as she forced herself to stop crying and swiped away her tears. Shepard reached out for her again, and the flash of disappointment in her eyes nearly made Liara rush back into her open arms. Instead, she quickly averted her gaze to the figure leaning in the doorway. “Operative Lawson,” she said coldly. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Miranda gave her a nod of recognition as she pushed away from her place against the wall. The door hissed shut behind her. “I suspect it’s very difficult to surprise you, Doctor T’Soni.”

“Well, you sure surprised me,” Shepard said, folding her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here, Miranda? I thought I told you and Mordin to wait outside. This is kind of personal...”

“Oh, Mordin’s outside, amusing himself by pestering one of the salespeople downstairs. I feel sorry for her. She had enough trouble with that volus earlier.”

Liara deliberately ignored Miranda and turned back to Shepard. Her green eyes were still shining with hurt, and the smile was gone from her face, leaving only the strange new lines. They made her look older than she remembered. “This isn’t going to be as easy as I thought, is it,” Shepard said. It was a statement, not a question. “You’re not just going to come back to the Normandy with me when I ask.”

It was incredibly tempting to say yes. After seeing Shepard standing before her, alive and whole, and after tasting her lips, any other answer seemed impossible to give. But then she remembered Shepard’s body, a blackened, twisted thing with no life in it at all. She remembered Feron’s screams. She remembered Miranda Lawson, who was watching her with an intensity that made her skin crawl, and the foul smell of The Illusive Man’s cigarettes. And she remembered the Reapers. Their warning had burned itself into her brain through her melds with Shepard, replaying over and over again for the past two years. No matter how much she wanted to, she could not go back in time. And even though Shepard was alive now, there was no guarantee that she still would be after she faced the Collectors.

“I’m sorry, Shepard.” She circled around to the other side of her desk, letting her hand trail over its smooth surface as she stared out the window that stretched along the far wall. If she looked back, if she turned around, she would never be able to say what needed to be said. That was why Miranda was here, she realized. To remind her to keep her distance. “I have commitments here. Things I need to take care of… just like you do.”

Shepard’s brow folded with concern. “What kind of things? Are you in trouble?”

“No,” she lied. “No trouble. But it’s been a long two years. I had things to do while you were gone. I have debts to repay.”

“Liara…” She trembled as Shepard’s boots clicked on the ground behind her. Closed her eyes as gloved fingertips stroked down along her arm. Drew her lip between her teeth and bit down, hoping against hope that when she finally forced herself to look at Shepard’s face again, she would still see the love that had been there when she first entered the room. If it was gone, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to keep breathing. “Please. Let me help.”

Her lips twitched up in a smile even as her heart shattered in her chest. Help. That was the Shepard she knew, always offering to solve everyone’s problems. And even though hers were not going to be easy to fix, she could not bear to tell Shepard ‘no’ anymore. Staying behind when she left to go and face the Collectors would be difficult enough. “There is something that you and Operative Lawson can do for me. It isn’t difficult, but I need someone I can trust. And maybe…” She couldn’t force herself to say that if Shepard managed to help her, she would return to the Normandy, but she couldn’t stop herself from hoping, either. Maybe that hope would be enough for Shepard, too.

“Maybe?”

She turned, cupping the side of Shepard’s face in her hand. Her thumb ran over one of the fading scars there, and when Shepard leaned down to kiss her, she did not pull away. Their lips lingered together for a long moment. “And then you’ll face the Collectors, and hopefully cheat death again.”

“Right. Well, I’m not dying again until that ‘maybe’ changes to a ‘yes’. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

With a sigh, Liara pulled out of Shepard’s arms and sat down at her terminal. She glanced up over the monitor to see Miranda Lawson approach the edge of her desk. “I need someone with hacking expertise. If you disable security at key points around Illium, you can get me information I need. That would help me a great deal.”

“That depends on how long this little favor will take,” Miranda said. “We’re only going to be here another day, and we still have two new recruits to pick up for the mission.”

Shepard’s eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward over the desk, bracing herself on its edge. “I don’t need your permission to stay and help someone, Miranda. I know we’ve got a job to do, and I’m still going to do it. But if you don’t let me make some peace with this first...”

Before she could stop herself or think better of it, Liara reached out to cover the top of Shepard’s curled hand. Shepard looked down at her, and she summoned the best smile she could. “You don’t need to make peace with me, Shepard. This is just another mission.”

Shepard’s hand flipped to catch hers, and their fingers wove together. “Right. Another mission.” She hesitated. “Can I come see you again before I go?”

“You’ll have to, won’t you? I still need that data.”

Some of the pain left Shepard’s face, and she walked back around the side of the desk. “Good. I’ll go find Mordin. You’ll like him, Liara. He’s another scientist. Reminds me a little bit of you… cute and socially awkward, although he doesn’t look quite as good in a labcoat.”

“Go ahead,” Miranda said. “Like I said, I saw him near that asari saleswoman just down the stairs. I’ll grab the information from Doctor T’Soni and meet you down there.”

Shepard looked as though she was about to protest, and so Liara hurried to nod her agreement. “Go, Shepard. I’ll see you again once you’re finished.” Reluctantly, Shepard headed back out of her office, and Liara felt her chest tighten as soon as the door closed behind her. She avoided Miranda’s eyes, reaching hurriedly into her desk and pulling out a small datapad. “Here’s a list of the vulnerable points my research has uncovered. Hacking the terminals won’t get you the data. It just creates a minor glitch in the system. You’ll have a short window of time to find a vulnerable server left open by that glitch and upload the information back to my server. I’m leaving my own system vulnerable so that the data can be imported.”

“Sounds simple enough.” Miranda reached out, taking the datapad from her with a slender hand. “And that’s how we need to keep things right now. Simple.”

Liara withdrew her hand more quickly than she had intended. “If you are worried that I will be a distraction..”

“I’m not worried you’ll be a distraction. I know that you’re already a distraction. Except when someone’s shooting at her, you’re all Shepard thinks about. She needs to be completely focused if we’re going to have any chance of surviving our fight with the Collectors.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” She stood up from her chair, stalking away from the desk and folding her hands behind her back as she stared out of the window. Hovercars zipped by, their silhouettes outlined by the bright lights of Illium’s blue skyline. “I know what she’s up against better than you. If the Reapers return…” A shudder rippled down along the length of her spine. She could still see their giant, shadowy bodies descending from above as scorching red beams of light sliced through the sky. “You know what I went through to get her body back. To give this Galaxy a chance.” To kiss her just one more time…

“Yes. I remember.” At least this time, Liara thought, Miranda had the decency sound chastened.

“Good. I’m well aware of the fact that I might have brought Shepard back from the dead only to lose her again. I don’t need you to remind me. I think it’s best you go now, Operative Lawson.” As Miranda made toward the door, Liara turned to cast a final look over her shoulder. “One more thing. Don’t tell Shepard I was the one who recovered her body. If you do… I presume you were listening in on my earlier conversation?”

Miranda did not answer her. It wasn’t necessary.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Omega, 2183** _

“We shouldn’t have come here,” Feron said, pacing back and forth across the grooved metal floor. “Don’t you know who these people are?”

Liara leaned further back on the bench. Despite her best efforts to remain calm, Feron’s nervous movements were making her uneasy. “No. I don’t know who they are, but something about them is very familiar.”

Feron halted in front of her, throwing his arms out in a clearly agitated gesture. “If they seem familiar, I feel sorry for you. They’re Cerberus, a pro-human hate group. Never mind that your people sit on the Citadel Council, Cerberus doesn’t have any more use for the asari than they do for the drell. I wouldn’t listen to a word they say.”

Her eyes widened with understanding. “That’s what was bothering me about the group that met us on the stairs,” she whispered. “They were all human. And Cerberus did always seem to like white armor…” She thought back on the tight, form-revealing catsuit that their leader, Miranda, had worn upon their first meeting, and shook her head. “I didn’t know that fashion choice extended to the entire organization.”

“This isn’t a joke, Liara,” Feron insisted. “Did you not hear the words ‘hate group’ that I said before? They don’t like ‘aliens’, and to them, that’s all we are.”

Liara sighed. She knew that Feron was right. Cerberus was not interested in bringing Shepard back simply because they felt sorry for her. She was not sure what their motivations were, or whether they knew about the looming threat of the Reapers, but she couldn’t afford to be choosy. The galaxy needed Shepard. If Sovereign could destroy nearly half the Citadel on its own, she could not even imagine the kind of destruction more of its kind would bring. And she needed Shepard, too. She missed her lover’s touch. Her scent. The taste of her lips. And she was willing to trade anything, even part of her soul, to have her back.

Before she could offer her reasoning to Feron, the door on the side of the room opened, and a familiar figure stepped through. Miranda observed them with one hand on her generous hip, but despite the provocative posture, Liara could see the shrewd judgment behind her dark eyes. She was being sized up, she realized, and she pushed off of the bench to match Miranda’s height. She returned the gaze, determined not to be intimidated.

By human standards, and even asari standards, Miranda was breathtaking. Her body was perfectly proportioned, and however impractical it was, the clinging bodysuit only highlighted her figure. But as Liara stared, she felt coldness creep under her skin. Something about Miranda only reminded her of what she had lost. She missed Shepard’s spiky, unruly red hair. She missed the broadness of her shoulders and the roughness of her hands. She missed the uneven freckles scattered across her cheeks. A small smile pulled at her lips. Even in all her beauty, Miranda truly could not compare.

“Our leader will see you now, Liara,” Miranda said, beckoning with her finger.

She stepped forward, but Feron remained kneeling on the ground beside the bench. “No thanks. I’ll stay.”

Miranda did not answer him until she had already turned around to walk back through the door. “That’s good, because I didn’t ask.”

Although she was slightly apprehensive about leaving Feron behind, Liara followed Miranda from the small holding room and through a doorway. They passed down a short, dark hall before arriving at another door, and this time, Miranda had to submit to a retinal scan before she was allowed access. “Who, exactly, am I meeting with?” she asked as she watched Miranda touch the pressure pad beside the door with her palm.

The only explanation Miranda offered was a curt, “You’ll see,” before gesturing for her to enter a dark room. A working comm and a large projection screen were the only items present. Liara swallowed, stepped forward, and activated the only available transmission link.

When the screen lit up, she had to swallow down a gasp. Before her was one of the strangest rooms she had ever seen. It was large, and the far wall looked out over a stunning view of the stars and several ringed, glowing planets. There were no items of furniture except for a large, high-backed chair with a dark figure sitting in it. A flash of light hovered beside him, and it took her a moment to realize that it was a cigarette - an old-fashioned drug, one she only knew about because she had viewed several older pieces of human media while trying to get to know Shepard.

“Welcome, Liara T’Soni,” the figure in the chair said. He did not turn around to face her. “You may call me the Illusive Man.”

Her brow furrowed. “Elusive?”

“That’s Ill-usive,” the figure corrected, “but yes, I often need to be hard to find as well. Someone in my position has enemies, and thus needs to be in many places at once.” The chair swiveled around, revealing the man’s face for the first time. He was dressed in a suit, and his silver hair was neatly groomed. He held out the hand with his cigarette, tucking it between two fingers and turning his palm up. “But I hope you and I can be friends, Liara.”

Liara turned away from him. He had made her wait, made her lose precious time she could have spent looking for Shepard, only to put on this childish display of superiority. Besides, she could not appear desperate. If The Illusive Man knew how much she wanted Shepard back, surely he would hold even more power over her. “Maybe I thought I’d be friends with anyone looking for Shepard, but now, I’m not so sure. Why is Cerberus interested?”

“Shepard is unique, one of the greatest examples of our species. A symbol for all humanity. Dead or alive, we want her back in human hands.”

Liara sighed. At least he was being honest with her, and not trying to conceal his own goals… as far as she knew. If Cerberus was as invested in human superiority as they claimed, Shepard would be a valuable ally. She smiled. If by some miracle they did manage to bring Shepard back, she suspected the Commander would not be as compliant and grateful as they hoped. “I don’t understand. If Shepard is dead, what would you want with a corpse? Or do you think you can bring her back?”

“Perhaps,” The Illusive man said. “But we have a bigger problem. The Shadow Broker wants Shepard, too, and he sent those mercenaries to stop you. In some ways, the Shadow Broker is my opposite number in the information-gathering business, always working from afar. But now, the Broker has made a deal with the devil, or more precisely, devils… The Collectors.”

The pit of her stomach dropped. Collectors? She had never encountered them, but even in her previous years as an archaeologist, she had heard whispers. Whispers of strange aliens that traded equally strange technology for living flesh...or simply took it for themselves. No one who was given to or abducted by the Collectors had ever returned. Liara had believed in their existence, although some members of mainstream galactic society regarded them as a myth, but she had certainly not expected them to have anything to do with Shepard or the Shadow Broker.

“The Collectors? But they’re slavers. Why would they want a dead body?”

“That’s what I need you to find out. We would want Shepard’s remains in any event, but it’s vital that the Collectors not have her. Whatever their reasons are, they can’t be any good, which is why we need you.”

Liara’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why me? You have all these resources, and you have Miranda and her people here. Cerberus is hardly known for their eagerness to work with aliens.”

“Miranda has her role to play, but nothing beats having someone with a personal motive driving them.” The Illusive Man leaned forward in his chair, staring at her intently. “You were very close with Commander Shepard, Liara T’Soni. Like the Shadow Broker, I am a collector of information. The fact that you were Shepard’s lover might not have been one of the most prominent facts being played on the news after Sovereign’s attack, but it’s not exactly a secret. So, I’m asking you… what would you give to bring her back?”

Liara did not even need to think about her answer. “Anything. I would give anything.”

“Good.” The Illusive Man turned his chair back around in an obvious dismissal, although he continued to give her instructions as he faced out toward the glowing, colorful sky. “The drell, Feron, does seem to have a lead on Shepard. I suspect he may also prove useful, for an alien. Will you work with him? Can we count on you?”

“No.” She turned toward the closed door, leaving the comm unit behind. “But Shepard can.”

. . .

_**Illium, 2185** _

Liara sighed and set the datapad she had been reading back on top of her desk. Trying to work was pointless. Normally, tracking leads in her search for the Shadow Broker distracted her just enough to ease the constant ache in her chest. But Shepard was alive now. Alive and on Illium, close enough to kiss and touch. The numbness she had grown accustomed to over the past two years had torn apart into a raw, stinging wound.

She turned her chair away from the desk and stared out through the window, watching the traffic weave itself into familiar patterns. The temptation was maddening, not just to resume her physical relationship with Shepard, but to leave her mission behind and join the fight against the Collectors. It would be so easy. Shepard would accept her back on the Normandy in a heartbeat. All she had to do was ask...

She blinked and shook her head. The world around her came into clearer focus again. Shepard would not remain on Illium for long. Soon, she would leave, and there was no guarantee that she would ever come back. If she didn’t, someone needed to remain here. Aside from Shepard, she was the only one who had seen the Reapers, the only one who knew what they were capable of. If Shepard failed, there would be no one else left to face them.

“It isn’t fair,” she whispered to herself, sagging forward in her chair. Two years ago, she would have done anything to bring Shepard back and resume her old life. Now that she finally had the chance, she couldn’t take it.

A soft knock made her sit up straighter in her chair, and she turned around to see Nyxeris standing in the doorway. “Ma’am? Commander Shepard is here to see you again. She’s waiting outside… rather reluctantly.”

Liara allowed her lips to fall into a smile. She could only imagine how irritated Shepard must have been at being asked to wait. Under normal circumstances, she would not have asked Nyxeris to alert her beforehand, but she needed to maintain some distance. If she wasn’t careful, she would find herself back in Shepard’s arms before either of them were ready. “Please, have her come in. Afterwards, check your terminal. I might have some data for you to analyze.”

Nyxeris nodded her head and backed out of the office, leaving Liara with only a few seconds to compose herself. She stood up from her chair and circled around her desk, smoothing out the front of her dress. The doors hissed open again a few seconds later, and this time, the figure standing in them made her heart stop. Shepard. The vision before her was a little more believable the second time, but still just as captivating. She swallowed and stepped forward for an embrace. Keeping some emotional distance until she and Shepard finished their missions was one thing, but she would not deny herself completely.

“Liara,” Shepard murmured, pulling her close and whispering against her crest. “Part of me thought I wouldn’t see you again before I left.” Her voice caught, and Liara wished that the hard surface of Shepard’s armor wasn’t still between them.

Carefully, she reached out to take Shepard’s hands in hers. “Of course I wanted to see you. I…” An ‘I love you’ hovered on her lips, practically burning in her mouth, but she could not force herself to say the words, no matter how true they were. If she did, she would not be able to remain on Illium. “Shepard, did you manage to recover that system data?”

Hurt flashed across Shepard’s face, and their hands fell apart. “What’s this all about, Liara? Why can’t you just talk to me? It’s been two years, and you’re treating me like a total stranger.”

Liara’s longing flared to the surface again, but it was quickly replaced with hurt. Suppressing her feelings for Shepard was hard enough. Seeing Shepard in pain - and being blamed for that pain after everything she had been through - was too much to bear. “Exactly. It has been two years. You have no idea what it was like after you…” She averted her eyes, unable to say the word ‘died’. It dredged up too many unpleasant memories. “My feelings for you haven’t gone away, but you can’t honestly expect things to simply return to the way they were?”

The line of Shepard’s shoulders sank in disappointment. “Well, actually, I did kind of expect things to go back to the way they were. I spent my first few weeks with Cerberus hoping you’d come and find me instead of having to hunt you down myself.” Liara flinched. Part of her wanted tell Shepard about the months she had spent orchestrating her resurrection, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She did not know how Shepard would react, and their relationship was still so fragile. If the thread snapped entirely… Shepard continued talking without looking at her. “When I came here, I thought… I don’t know what I thought. That love would be enough, I guess.” She let out a sigh and turned away. “I guess I was being stupid.”

“You were hardly being stupid,” Liara whispered. “I am not staying on Illium because I want to. I am staying because I have to.”

Shepard whirled back around, and their gazes locked. The determination that burned within her eyes made Liara tremble. She nearly stepped back, but Shepard’s strong hands caught her arms. “Tell me everything, Liara. What happened to you?”

The question shattered her resolve. She would not tell Shepard everything, but it wouldn’t be fair to send her away, possibly to her second death, without an explanation. “Do you remember the Shadow Broker?” Shepard nodded her head, and she continued, searching for the right words. Even though she trusted Shepard completely, she knew that her office was not entirely safe. “With the information I sent you to retrieve, I may be able to find data caches from his Agents.”

Shepard’s forehead wrinkled with concern. “Are you on the run from the Shadow Broker? If you’re in danger, I can help you...”

Liara shook her head. “Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Shadow Broker is on the run from me. We crossed paths not long after you died, and things fell apart. Since then, I’ve been working to take him down.”

“So, that’s it?” Shepard asked softly. “You’re staying here instead of coming with me because you want revenge?”

“No. That isn’t the only reason.” She hesitated, searching for an explanation that Shepard would understand, but the more she thought through her excuses, the hollower they sounded in her mind. Finally, she found one that she hoped Shepard would accept. “I was on a job with a friend. The Shadow Broker’s people caught us. He didn’t escape. I don’t know if he’s dead or being interrogated, but I need to find him. I owe him my life. And I need to make the Shadow Broker pay for what he did.”

“But…”

“But nothing,” she said, pulling herself free of Shepard’s grip. “Think about what you would do if Garrus, Tali, or any of the others from the old days went missing. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t go after them if there was the slightest chance they might be alive. And don’t tell me you want to help, because I can’t keep you here. Your mission against the Collectors is too important to wait.”

When Shepard’s head dropped, Liara knew she had won. Still, she could not help feeling that it was a pointless victory. “What about after the Collectors?” Shepard asked. “Maybe I shouldn’t jinx myself, talking about an after…”

“There will be an after,” Liara insisted, trying desperately to believe her own words. “And when it comes, I might take you up on that offer of help.”

“Okay.” Shepard let out a heavy sigh, but a little of the frustration left her eyes. “I understand. All right, that’s a lie. I don’t understand, and I don’t like it, but once I’m finished with the Collectors, I’m leaving Cerberus and coming back here to straighten things out.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot, and Liara was surprised to see her tug her lower lip between her teeth. Nervousness was not an emotion that Shepard displayed often. “I know you’ve already spent two years without me… but I’m going to be selfish and ask you to wait just a little longer. This friend. He was just a friend, right?”

Tears burned in Liara’s eyes, and she had to blink to force them back. The uncertainty in Shepard’s voice split her heart open. “Oh, Shepard, you already know the answer to that question. At least, I hope you do.” She took in a deep, calming breath, but she could not seem to stop herself from shaking. “Come to my apartment tonight,” she said, stammering out the invitation before she could change her mind. “I know you’re only staying here for a day, but…”

Shepard didn’t answer her. She reached out instead, curling one gloved hand around the back of her neck, and Liara gasped as warm lips covered hers. She shuddered, then melted, surrendering herself to Shepard’s kiss. The pressure of Shepard’s mouth was sweet and familiar, and threads of tingling energy rushed beneath her skin, urging her to reach out. Her body remembered Shepard’s touch, but her mind still ached to know her, to be reunited with its other half.

“No,” she whispered, pulling back just far enough to say the words. Shepard’s face still hovered close to hers, near enough to share breath. “Not here. It’s not… safe. Everything I say and do is probably being recorded.”

Shepard did not let her go. “Tonight?”

This time, Liara did not hesitate. “Yes. I… I can’t let you go again without this. Even if it’s just once…”

“This isn’t a goodbye,” Shepard said. The words were unshakable, a clear promise, and Liara felt a little of her despair lift. “It’s a hello. And it’s not going to be just once.”

The double-meaning behind the words made Liara’s face burn with heat, and she slid herself free of Shepard’s embrace, too overwhelmed to stay pressed against her. She activated her Omnitool, pulling up the glowing orange screen and typing out a short message. “Here. I’ve sent you the address. You should be able to take a cab there once you’re finished recruiting your new team members.” She hesitated and lowered her arm. “I’m sure Operative Lawson is wondering where you are…”

“She can wonder a bit longer. Miranda could do with a little more patience. I’ll see you tonight. Try not to get lost in all that data I got for you. I’ll only be a few hours.”

“Really?” Liara shook her head in disbelief. Shepard reached out, linking their fingers together for one last squeeze. “You think tracking down a dangerous assassin and an asari justicar and recruiting them to your cause will only take a few hours of your time?”

Shepard only smirked. “That’s what I’m hoping. I have lots of motivation to finish work early today.”


	5. Chapter 5

"Liara, are you listening?"

Liara blinked to clear her head, flushing as she realized where she was: far away from both Shepard and the Normandy, sitting in the passenger's seat of a small shuttle. Miranda Lawson stared at her from the pilot's chair, a wrinkle marring the smooth, pale curve of her brow beneath her shimmering dark hair. Her lips were too full, and her face a little too symmetrical. It was almost offputting, although Liara realized that perhaps her judgment was unfair. Being torn from her memories had put her in a bad mood.

"I apologize, Operative Lawson. I'm listening. Please, continue."

The shuttle slowed to a stop, lowering onto the ground near one of Omega's many small docking bays. The roof lifted up, and Miranda stood, stretching as she abandoned her seat. "I was saying that if you want to find Shepard, the ones who attacked you earlier are they key. Blue Suns Mercenaries."

Liara frowned and remained in her seat. She could tell that Miranda wanted her to step out of the shuttle, but she was reluctant to move until she got more answers. "Didn't I see your people kill them all?"

"Oh, the krogan wasn't the brains of the operation, even when his brains were still in his head. From what you've told us, they were just trying to keep you from finding Shepard, which means the drell might actually be right." She did not even spare a glance at the back seat, where Feron had been patiently waiting for them to finish talking. "The body's here on Omega, and the Blue Suns have it."

When Miranda made as if to leave, Liara forgot her annoyance and rose to follow her, swinging one leg over the side of the shuttle and stepping out into the open space of the docking bay. A few passers-by in the crowd glanced in their direction, so she lowered her voice. "You're sure about this?"

Miranda nodded. "If the body had left Omega, I would know. They haven't made the final handoff to the Shadow Broker's agent, which means we've still got a chance." She reached into a compartment near the back of the shuttle and pulled out a red and white datapad. Liara took it, casting a nervous glance over her shoulder to make sure that no one but Feron was watching. "Take this. It has the location of a nearby Cerberus base. Find the body and bring it here. We'll pay your expenses."

"I'm not familiar with Omega," Liara said, hoping the doubt creeping into her heart was not audible in her voice. She needed to find Shepard, for the galaxy and for herself, but Omega was a violent place, and if she was about to go up against the Shadow Broker and the Collectors, her life was already in danger. "I'm not even sure where to start looking."

Miranda slid back into the shuttle and settled in the pilot's seat. "Like the boss said, Liara, ask the drell," she said as the roof began to lower over her head. "He seems to know a lot about Omega's comings and goings. He found you, didn't he?"

Liara found herself repeating Miranda's parting words in her head as the shuttle flew away. She stared up into the air until it disappeared into the oncoming traffic, blending in with all of the other skycars.  _'He seems to know a lot about Omega's comings and goings…'_  She glanced over at Feron, who was standing a few yards away from her with his arms tucked into his cloak. _'He found you, didn't he?'_  Yes, Feron had found her, and barely a few minutes later…

"She's a bigger fool than I thought if she thinks I'd help them," Feron muttered, turning his back and facing out toward the crowd. Liara started walking behind him, matching his stride once she reached his shoulder. "Besides, you saw what happened the last time I tried to lead you anywhere. What do they think I can give you?"

Liara curled her gloved hands into fists. "Quite a lot, I should think. You're an agent of the Shadow Broker, and they know it." Perhaps a year ago, she still would have been too naive to see it. Saving the galaxy had changed her. She had blossomed into an adult, but she had also become inherently more suspicious of everyone around her, and Feron was a prime target for her suspicion.

That made Feron stop in his tracks. "What?"

Rage swelled up inside of her. She was more certain than ever. How dare he continue pretending? Especially now, when it was so painfully obvious? He had even listened while Miranda warned her, in a roundabout way. Warmth tingled beneath her skin and along her arms, swelling to a blistering fire in her palms. She swung her arm in a sideways swipe, and the glow around her fist collided with the side of Feron's face in a flash of blue.

Feron let out a low groan and stumbled forward, dropping to his knees and barely managing to catch himself on his hands before his face met the floor. It took him several moments to collect himself, and when he did look up at her, she saw fear shining in his large, hooded eyes. "Y-you could have killed me!" he said, flipping onto his back. He raised one hand up to protect his face, as if he expected her to strike him again.

Liara knew Shepard would have disapproved, but she did not care. Shepard was dead now, and she needed answers. "And those mercs could have killed me, Feron! You were the only person who knew I was coming to search for Shepard, but they found me anyway. Either they knew exactly what you were up to, or you sold me out."

Feron did not answer right away. Instead, he began climbing back to his feet. Liara felt a grim sort of satisfaction when she noticed that his legs were still shaking. As long as Feron didn't bring in any more thugs to try and murder her, she knew she could handle herself around him. He might be a clever spy, but he wasn't much of a physical threat now that she knew his secrets.

"I didn't sell you out," he said at last. "I've been taking odd assignments for the Shadow Broker for a while now. He pays for eyes and ears everywhere. He knew Shepard's friends would be looking for her. How do you think you got my contact information?"

Liara froze. Could the Shadow Broker have predicted her involvement so quickly after Shepard's death? Tracking down someone with knowledge of Shepard's whereabouts had taken her nearly a month, and it had not been easy, or cheap. The thought that someone else had facilitated her meeting with Feron made her feel sick. The Shadow Broker had been pulling the strings all along.

"I was just supposed to lead you away," Feron continued. "The money's good, I don't get my hands dirty, and no one gets hurt."

"Well, no one told that to the people who were trying to break my neck!"

"And no one told me about them, either! I don't know why he sent them. Maybe…" He rubbed thoughtfully at the back of his neck. "Maybe it was insurance. Maybe the Broker's more nervous about getting to Shepard's body than I thought."

Liara stared down at the datapad in her hand. Her fingers curled tighter around its edge. "He should be, if he's working with the Collectors. Did you know about that, too, Feron? What part of 'no one gets hurt' applies to slavers?"

Feron had the decency to look guilty. "Rumors, nothing solid. In this galaxy, Collectors are about as rare as violent hanar, but they're nasty customers. Listen, maybe you'd be better off doing this on your own…"

She whirled around to face him, another blue flash erupting around her fists. "Oh, no. I paid you to help me find Shepard, and whether it's my money or Miranda's, you're going to do it. I watched from my escape pod as Shepard died, Feron. The woman I loved. The woman who was supposed to save the galaxy. And if there's the slightest possibility I can bring her back, I will. No matter what it takes. This is my chance to redeem myself…" She stared directly into his eyes, and could practically feel his will crumbling behind the force of her words. "It can be your chance, too."

"She's really that important?" Feron whispered. It was more of a statement than a question.

"The Collectors, the Shadow Broker, Cerberus, and I all want her body, no matter what condition it's in. What do you think?"

The drell hung his head and stared down at his boots. "Then I'll help you. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry. You know, for almost getting you killed."

"You can apologize by helping me find where the Blue Suns are keeping her. I don't care about your conscience, Feron. I just want to bring Shepard back. If you help me, I'll make sure you get something out of it. If you try to stop me…" Just the slight movement of her free hand was enough to make Feron flinch. "You'll find out just how well I learned to use my biotics while I was fighting Saren."

. . .

Liara braced her elbow against the kitchen table and raised her hand to her forehead, trying to massage away some of the tension. It was nearly 19:00, and there was still no word from Shepard. She had spent the last several hours poring over the information that Nyxeris had compiled for her, but her thoughts continued to wander. She sighed and blinked to refocus her eyes, calling up the brief report again on her Omnitool.

The Observer. It was the first time that she had been able to put a name to one of the Shadow Broker's agents, even if it was only a handle. Thank the Goddess for Nyxeris, because it was her faithful assistant's diligent work that had been able to narrow down the list of possible suspects. The credits that went to her salary were well worth it.

But despite the fact that Nyxeris had provided her with her most promising lead yet, she could not find it in herself to be excited. The inner fire driving her had dimmed, and now that Shepard was back on Illium, her quest for revenge suddenly did not seem so important. The constant pressure in her chest had shifted lower, coiling in her abdomen instead with a familiar heat, and her eyes wandered toward the front door. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to wait much longer…

Even though she had been expecting it, the sound of the buzzer nearly made Liara fall out of her chair. She picked herself up as gracefully as she could, hurrying to smooth out the skirt of her dress as she headed for the front door. She reached for the pressure pad almost immediately, but she stopped and forced herself to check the security camera first. There was Shepard, familiar freckles and all, standing outside with her hands folded behind her back. Thankfully, she was alone.

Liara unlocked the door with shaking hands, stepping away a little too quickly when it hissed open. Shepard smiled at her, and the pressure in her lower belly shot straight down between her legs in a surge of heat. Her body had responded earlier in the day when Shepard had kissed her, but it was nothing compared to what she felt now. Every inch of her skin was sensitized even though Shepard hadn't touched her yet, and her heart pounded frantically against the walls of her chest. She lowered her eyes, unsure of what to say.

"The data you gave me was extremely helpful," she murmured at last, breaking the silence that stretched between them. "I was just looking over it before you arrived. The Shadow Broker has several contacts here on Illium, and I've managed to isolate one of them: The Observer."

Shepard's smile wavered for a moment, but she stepped forward anyway. "No offense, Liara, but I don't want to talk about work right now." Warmth cupped around her hands, and Liara swallowed, regretting the fact that both of them had chosen to wear gloves. "I'll do whatever you need me to do… later. Right now, I just want to be near you."

She sighed. It seemed that no matter how many transformations she went through, she could not shake her awkwardness. "I am sorry, Shepard. You're right. This… you and me… it is not easy. You have been gone a long time, and I am afraid the person you used to know is gone as well."

"She's not gone." One of Shepard's hands pulled apart from hers, reaching up to cup the side of her cheek and urging her to lift her head. She stared into Shepard's eyes, and the rest of the world fell away. "Hiding, maybe, but she's still there."

The movement of Shepard's mouth as she spoke drew her in, and before she realized what was happening, their lips were pressed together. She stiffened, then surrendered, too overwhelmed to pull away. Back in her office, their kisses had been tinged with grief and loneliness, but now, the only thing she tasted was hunger. Hunger to know Shepard's body again and to feel her own reawaken.

Their lips gave and took, not even parting for breath, and a fierce joy swelled in Liara's heart as her fingers traced over the surface of Shepard's chestplate. Even though the armor was new, her hands remembered where the fastenings were. She had done this countless times before in her previous life, and it had been two years too long since she had last seen Shepard naked.

A small flicker of doubt crossed Shepard's face, an unspoken fear they were moving too quickly, but Liara dipped her head forward and kissed it away. "I promised," she said, remembering what she had told herself yesterday morning. "I promised the first thing I would do when I saw you again was kiss you. And now, I can't seem to stop."

"You did kiss me..." Shepard's teeth sank into her lower lip, giving it a soft tug before she soothed the sting with her tongue. "You are kissing me."

And Liara desperately wanted to keep kissing her. She needed Shepard's lips like she needed to breathe. But there were still far too many obstacles between her hands and Shepard's flesh. She started with Shepard's gloves, pulling them off as quickly as she could. "I never made any promises about where I was going to kiss you." The armguards came off next, and she let them clatter to the floor without bothering to pick them up. The chestplate was simple, since she had already unhooked the latches before. "Please, Shepard, I need…" And then that need grew beyond words. Liara could not speak anymore. She backed Shepard against the nearest wall, too desperate to head for the living room couch.

Shepard reached behind her neck, fumbling with the clasp of her dress, but she did not bother to help. After two long years, she finally had Shepard in her arms again. There was no way she would let go. Instead, she devoted herself to rediscovering each soft, sensitive place she could remember. Her lips found Shepard's pulse point, and her hands re-learned the smooth strip of flesh beneath the hem of her compression shirt. She shuddered as the top half of her dress finally slid away, but she could not bear to stop long enough to push it the rest of the way down over her hips.

"Liara…" It was an effort to drag her mouth away from Shepard's skin. She resisted, sinking her teeth into the cord of muscle at her lover's shoulder. "Liara?" She looked up reluctantly, tightening her grip around Shepard's waist. Shepard stared back down at her with wide, dark green eyes. "Let me take this off." She felt a tug at the skirt of her dress. "Please."

Liara took in a shuddering breath and relented, stepping back just enough to give Shepard the room she needed. With one quick pull, the fabric of the dress fell away, pooling around her feet. The brief pause doubled the ache between her legs, but she was grateful for the chance to return the favor. She stripped Shepard's shirt away, tossing it aside as quickly as possible and pressing their bodies together.

Finally, skin against skin. She had waited two years for this, but it had felt like so much longer. Rough, calloused palms ran down along her sides, a little too cool for comfort, but achingly gentle. Shepard's touch always caused the most wonderful, tingling flush of warmth to race along her skin, no matter how cold her fingers were. It was still the same, even after all this time. She imagined - no, remembered them going lower, lower, and her inner walls throbbed with want.

Shepard's hands gripped her waist, circling the points of her hipbones. "Is this all right?"

"You shouldn't need to ask." Liara twined her fingers with Shepard's and dragged them down...

And then those fingers were between her legs, sliding over her, inside of her. No longer cold, but warm and coaxing, curling forward to hook against the secret place that only Shepard knew. She had never regretted taking Shepard as her first lover, although sometimes she feared that no one else could compare. Liara knew that it wouldn't matter if Shepard was gone for two years or two hundred. Her body would never forget, and neither would her soul.

"I love you, Liara," That voice. Sometimes, it made her want to cry with joy. Other times, it sent a knife of desire slicing through her stomach and made her inner muscles clench. And when she heard it, her heart swelled until it felt too large for her chest. Shepard filled her with so much love that she could barely stand it.

She tried to whisper back, to form an 'I love you' of her own, but Shepard was already driving loud, needy cries from her throat with each thrust of her hand. The pace was slow, but deep and insistent, and she rocked her hips down to meet every push. Her mind ached to reach out, to draw out the powerful force that was Shepard and cradle it within herself, but she held back, trying to focus on the physical sensations: the slide of Shepard's body against hers, the warmth of her breath, the dizzying sweetness of her kisses.

It was during one of those kisses that Shepard's thumb finally stopped circling and pressed directly over the slick ridge of her clit, trapping it with the pad and rubbing over it with hard, quick strokes. She screamed into Shepard's mouth. Threw her arms around Shepard's shoulders. Clung to her as shivers pulsed through every inch of her body. A flood poured from her as she bore down, lifting her hips so that the fingers buried inside of her would hit against her front wall one last time.

The meld was only natural after that. An inevitable conclusion. The landscape of Shepard's mind was still so familiar to her. She loved the desire she found there, the care, the affection and trust. She did not even need to hear Shepard's 'I love you' to feel it there, surrounding everything else…

It took Liara several moments to realize what had happened, and when she did, she nearly pulled back. Something within Shepard had called to her. She had twisted the emptiness between them into a thread of connection, a link between their minds. It was not intentional, but as Shepard's emotions ran and smeared over into hers, as they _became_  hers, she could not tear herself away. Parting again was inconceivable.

But even though she could not bear to break the meld, she was not ready to let Shepard know the full extent of her pain. She basked in Shepard's feelings, in her love and hope, but she shut off her own, burying them deep within her chest. Fortunately, the movement of Shepard's hand was enough to distract her. With a few more thrusts, she was coming all over again, screaming her release into Shepard's mouth.

This time, she dragged Shepard over the edge with her. She did not even need to feel her body tense or hear her sharp gasp of relief. Sharing her mind was enough. The confusing blur of Shepard's feelings sharpened until they were almost too painful to bear. Then, they shattered. She shoved her hand between Shepard's legs, ignoring the trembling burst of wetness from between her own thighs. The walls around her heart cracked, and one stray thought slipped through before she could pull it back.  _'I love you, too.'_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Omega, 2183** _

Liara's heart sank as she looked around the crowded dance floor. The throbbing baseline, the thick smell of smoke and sweat, and the raised platform over the bar made her just as uncomfortable as they had the first time. Even though she had agreed to give Feron another chance, she hadn't expected to follow him back to the same bar where they had first met. She wrinkled her nose, trying not to breathe in too deeply or let any of the milling bodies brush against her. At least no one would mistake her for a dancer while she was wearing her armor.

She glanced over her shoulder at Feron, who was surveying the club with obvious distaste. It gave Liara a strange sense of satisfaction. At least he was uncomfortable, too. He deserved to be, especially after what he had put her through. She drew closer to him so that he could pick up her voice over the pounding music. "I sincerely doubt Shepard is here, so why are we?"

Feron snorted. "Not unless corpses can dance." Liara narrowed her eyes, resisting the temptation to let her biotics flare. Now was not the time, and this was definitely not the place. Perhaps that was one reason Feron had brought her here. It would be much more difficult for her to fight him in a crowd if he double-crossed her again, or catch him if he ran away. "No, we're here for Aria."

Liara forgot her annoyance. Even though she had spent most of her life on remote digs, away from people and their gossip, she knew exactly who Aria T'Loak was. Every asari did. Her tightfisted reign over Omega Station was legendary. Her name was a synonym for ruthlessness and cunning, and she never did anything without a plan in place. "And she's actually agreed to see us? I'm impressed. You might not be trustworthy, Feron, but you certainly are resourceful."

Feron began moving again, and Liara fell into step behind him, following him past several tables and toward a set of stairs. "The Queen of Omega will see anyone if it benefits her," Feron said. "This is her kingdom. If anything's going down on this station, she knows about it. It's how she's stayed in power for so long, and it's also why we need to talk with her."

Liara frowned as she glanced from side to side. This section of the club looked even seedier than the rest of the place. The vibrant neon lights that flickered above the dance floor had dimmed, and the thrumming energy was replaced with a desolate stillness. Large, hulking figures hunched over the sagging tables, staring into their drinks. "Queen of Omega? Some palace."

"I think you'll be more impressed when you see upstairs." Feron came to a stop a few yards away from a narrow staircase. A large, hulking batarian in full armor stood at the bottom, and his giant arms were folded over his chest. "If we get upstairs…"

"I thought you said that Aria would see anyone if it benefited her?"

"She will, but we've got to convince Anto first. He's one of her bodyguards. Fortunately, I know how to handle him. Follow me."

Feron pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders and stepped forward. Liara watched him for a few moments, then reluctantly approached the staircase. She wasn't always successful at reading other people's emotions, but the expression on Anto's face was easy to interpret. He definitely did not want company.

"Stop right there, Feron," he grunted, unfolding his arms and reaching for the pistol at his hip. "I don't know what you're trying to pull this time, but Aria's too busy to deal with a snitch-for-hire like you. Get out of here before I make you get out."

Liara blinked in surprise when Feron did not step back. He smiled up at Anto, even though the batarian was several heads taller. "Uh-huh. I guess I'll have to find another way to let her know about the business you and I usually do… but then, she probably wouldn't mind knowing someone on her payroll's been selling info on who she sees and when."

The expression on Anto's face faltered. His four eyes flickered nervously to one side. He lowered his hand away from his gun. "If your business is important, she's got a few minutes." He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead, he moved aside, leaving the way clear.

Feron turned back to look at her. "Come on," he said, motioning with his arm. "Aria doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Liara hurried past Anto and up the stairs. Once they were out of earshot, she couldn't resist murmuring, "That was a pretty impressive bluff. He could have just shot you before you had a chance to tell Aria that he was selling her out."

"Maybe, but Anto isn't the brightest star in the sky. Aria didn't hire him for his brains."

The staircase curved in the middle, turning back in on itself and leading up to a broad platform. Several more guards were positioned at the top, but unlike Anto, they made no move to reach for their weapons. Instead, they stepped aside to reveal a broad, luxurious leather couch. A figure was sitting on it, and even though the twin torches by the railing cast her into silhouette, Liara could tell she was an asari. Her slender form and the shape of her crest were obvious giveaways.

The figure moved, rising from the couch and striding confidently toward them. As the light shifted, Liara could make out more of her features. Her age was difficult to tell, but she was very beautiful, at least by conventional standards. Leather and buckles clung to her legs and rode up along her hips, but her breasts and arms were covered by a high-cut white jacket with a popped red collar. Purple tattoos stretched over the arch of her forehead, and a thick stripe split her lower lip and chin. Liara had to suppress a shudder as the asari's dark eyes moved up and down deliberately, lingering on her face, then the pistol at her hip. Aria's gaze was calculating and sexual all at once, and it made her squirm in her armor. It was an effort to hold still.

"Your friend is better-looking than your usual company, Feron," Aria said, making her way down the short ramp in front of the couch. "Which means she can't be your friend. But you really must leave poor Anto alone. So many years, and he still hasn't learned that nothing is secret from me." Her full lips twitched into a predatory smile, one that could not be mistaken as friendly. "Certainly not in my own establishment. He's lucky I'm fond of him. It's a good survival trait." She drew even closer, stopping directly in front of them. "It isn't often that the Shadow Broker sends his minions to me for help. Something big and juicy, I'm betting."

Liara opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, Feron leaned close and whispered, "I'll handle this. Just keep quiet." Reluctantly, she swallowed down her words and folded her arms over her chest. "We're just checking on some merchandise, Aria," Feron said in his full voice. "The body of Commander Shepard. I know the Blue Suns are set to deliver it to the Shadow Broker. I need to know where."

Aria narrowed her eyes at Feron, and her smile disappeared. "I knew the Broker liked secrecy, but for his own man not to know what he's up to…" Then, the weight of Aria's gaze settled on her again. "And you. I know you. You're Shepard's pet." Liara curled her hands into fists, flinching slightly as Aria's finger came up to tuck beneath her chin. The pads were soft, and the touch made her heart fly into her throat. She couldn't breathe, torn between anger, fear, and a strange, tingling sensation beneath her skin. The fingertips trailed down her neck, resting over her pulse point. "Were you able to speak when Shepard was alive?"

Liara did not speak. She did not move, even when Aria's fingers ghosted over the sensitive folds of neck. Her hands shook in her gloves, and fire burned along her cheeks. She wanted to disobey Feron's orders and shout, but she held perfectly still, refusing to give any sort of reaction.

At last, Aria's hand pulled back. Something that seemed almost like approval shone from her dark eyes. "The Shadow Broker is powerful, but Omega is mine. I know everything that happens here. I do know about the transfer, but I need something in return. Feron, why is the Broker so interested in Shepard?"

"I - I don't know," Feron stammered, shrugging his shoulders. "That's what we're trying to find out…"

"Bullshit. Of course you know. And if you want to find Shepard, you'll tell me."

Liara's voice exploded out of her before she could stop it. Aria's condescending and strangely seductive behavior had worn through the last of her patience. Shepard would not have remained quiet for so long. Shepard would have demanded answers when negotiations got her nowhere. And right now, Shepard needed her more than ever. "Because the Shadow Broker is working with the Collectors! They're the ones that want Shepard's body, and the longer you keep us here so we can play your stupid games, the closer they get to taking her!"

This time, Aria was the one who remained silent. She closed her eyes for a long moment, and when they opened again, she did not bother hiding her surprise. "The Collectors… No one said anything about The Collectors. That changes things."

Feron made waving motions with his hands, urging her to stop talking, but Liara could not resist taking one more jab. "I thought you knew everything that happened on Omega?"

Aria threw one arm outward, pointing imperiously at the staircase as a scowl twisted her face. "Leave, both of you! Grizz, get in here and get them out, now!"

One of the guards by the staircase, a large turian, moved toward them with an assault rifle clutched in his talons. Feron began to back away, his eyes wide with fear, but Liara pressed forward. She had seen something in Aria's face, and it urged her to try one last time. "Wait! I told you want you wanted to know. Where are they taking Shepard?"

Aria gritted her teeth and turned away. Then, the lines of her face softened for the briefest of moments. "The lower levels of Omega, in an old mining processing plant. The Blue Suns were taking your bondmate there. This meeting is over."

. . .

_**Illium, 2185** _

"That…" Shepard panted beside her cheek, still slumped against the wall, "...was not what I expected…"

Even though Liara had severed the meld as quickly and gently as possible after their release, she knew what Shepard meant. She had not expected things to be so primal, so overwhelming. Without hearing the words, she sensed that Shepard would have preferred to take her time and linger over their reestablished connection, but she was far from ready to return to that level of trust. It was too fast, too soon.

"It was good though, wasn't it?" she murmured, running her free hand up and down Shepard's heaving back. 'Good' seemed like an inadequate word to describe it, but her mind was too fuzzy to think of anything else.

"Better than good," Shepard said, although there was a note of disappointment in her voice. "I just wish you hadn't left so fast."

Liara's heart lurched. She knew Shepard too well, even after all these years, and she could not give her the chance to ask for what she really wanted. "I am not going anywhere." To prove her point, she withdrew her hand from between Shepard's legs and dropped to her knees. Before Shepard could clarify what she meant, she replaced her fingers with her tongue, spreading apart her full outer lips and reveal the swollen point of her clit. She pulled it into the warmth of her mouth, lashing the hard bud until Shepard's hands flew down to clutch the back of her head.

"Fuck, Liara, I didn't mean…" But when she sealed her lips tighter around the hooded shaft, Shepard's words trailed off. She threw her head back so hard that it smacked against the wall behind her, and Liara knew she had won. Later. Later, if Shepard survived her mission to destroy the Collectors, she would lose herself in a deeper meld, but things were still too uncertain. It had taken her two years to claw her way back to a numb, unsatisfying existence after Shepard's death. Melding again now would ruin her permanently.

And so she focused all of her attention on Shepard's body. She was not ready to share her pain or the full extent of her love, but there was one gift she could give: raw, physical pleasure. She raked her nails up along Shepard's thigh, over the flushed, tender skin covered in streaks of wetness, and found her entrance. Pushing inside of her was easy. Instinctive. She had done it countless times before.

Shepard's body stiffened above hers. Her hips bucked forward, but Liara managed to follow the movement. She kept her mouth moving over Shepard's clit, circling and flicking with her tongue.

"Liara, please…"

She could not tell whether Shepard was begging for release, the meld, or both, but she could not bear to pull away long enough to ask. She needed this connection as much as Shepard did. It wasn't enough, would never be enough, but she still craved it desperately. She moved down, seeking more of Shepard's taste, and groaned when she finally found it. Still the same. At least some things hadn't changed. When everything else in her life was so wrong, the familiarity was a comfort. She changed her approach, withdrawing her fingers to tease Shepard's clit as her tongue began thrusting. Shepard probably would have preferred it the other way around, but she couldn't help being a little selfish.

"Fuck," Shepard blurted out, but Liara barely heard the words. Shepard's hips were quivering, rocking unpredictably above her, and it took all her concentration just to follow the movements. Her jaw was already starting to ache, but she did not care. Taking Shepard's pleasure was too sweet. She focused all her attention on the clasping muscles against her mouth, on the throbbing bundle beneath her fingers, on Shepard's scent and taste. In the back of her mind, she knew this might be their last time together, and she wanted to sear every second of it into her memory.

At last, Shepard surrendered. Her thighs tensed, and she let out a loud shout as she tipped over the edge. A flood of warmth spilled over Liara's lips, and she caught as much as she could, dragging her tongue through slick, clinging heat until she had captured every drop. The bud of Shepard's clit twitched, and she pressed even harder, rolling it beneath her fingers until the spasms finally trailed off.

She took her time easing Shepard through the tail-end of her release, pressing warm kisses to the throbbing bundle and gathering up the final traces of wetness with her hand. When she finally pulled back and slipped her slick fingers between her lips, tasting the last of her prize, Shepard slid down the wall and slumped onto the floor, collapsing in a boneless heap in front of her. "Liara," she groaned, her mouth quivering as she formed the words, "you didn't have to…"

Liara could not resist taking Shepard in her arms. She used her dry hand to coax Shepard's head onto her chest, threading her fingers through her choppy red hair. "That was not just for you, Shepard. It was for me as well. I… needed you. I needed this. It was not everything I wanted, but…" She let out a long, slow breath. "But I believe there will be time for that later. I am going to let myself believe you're coming back."

"Let yourself believe?" Shepard repeated. The words were muffled against her shoulder, slightly slurred, but still understandable. "What do you mean?"

"You were dead for two years. It is difficult enough for me to believe that I am holding you in my arms right now. Asking me to believe that you will come back to me after you defeat the Collectors… that is almost impossible." A small smile pulled at her lips, and she dropped a kiss on top of Shepard's head. "But you always seem to achieve impossible things. I know you will come back. You always have before."

Liara shivered as the warmth of Shepard's breath skated over the curve of her neck, but she was not prepared for the strength of her gaze as she looked up. "I will. I promise. I have someone important to come back for."

The love in Shepard's eyes was nearly too much for Liara to bear. She turned away, looping one of her arms beneath Shepard's shoulders and helping her onto her feet. "Come on. I have a shower upstairs…"

Shepard's mouth split in a grin. "Only if you join me."

"Of course I will." Liara sucked her lower lip between her teeth, suddenly aware of how messy her face was. Shepard's taste still lingered on her tongue. "I probably need it even more than you."

"I, um… might need your help. My legs are still a little wobbly. Guess that's what happens when you get to have amazing sex for the first time in two years." Liara allowed herself to feel a little smug. Shepard had always been appreciative of her efforts, but this was a special occasion. She made sure to hold onto Shepard's elbow as they rose to their feet, and together, they made their way up the stairs and into the washroom.

They lingered in the shower, re-learning each other at a less frenzied pace. They touched just for the sake of touching, without any other goals in mind. By the time Liara left the shower and collapsed onto the bed, skin still dotted with water droplets, she realized that the small red scars on Shepard's face were starting to look natural.

"I'll say goodbye before I leave tomorrow," Shepard mumbled as she closed her eyes. Wet strands of her hair clung to the pillowcase and the sides of her face. "I still haven't gotten to taste you. Maybe I'll wake you up that way…"

"You're welcome to," Liara murmured, stroking some of Shepard's hair away from her forehead. But she knew there would be no time. If her guess was right, Miranda Lawson would be here before the sun rose, demanding that Shepard return to the Normandy. And even though her heart ached at the thought of losing Shepard again after they had finally found each other, she knew it was a loss she would have to endure. The galaxy needed Shepard more than she did.

But not for the next few hours, she thought to herself as Shepard pulled closer against her side, draping an arm around her waist.  _She's mine for a little while longer. I don't have to give her up yet._


	7. Chapter 7

**_Omega, 2183_ **

_"That's them, all right." Feron ducked back behind the pillar, bracing himself against one of the rusted metal pipes. "Looks like we even got here before the heavy muscle. I only see a few Blue Suns down there."_

_Liara peeked cautiously over the edge of the railing. Although the warehouse wasn't well-lit, she could see down to the lower floor. Feron was right. There were only a few armed guards, and they did not seem to be paying close attention to their work. They lounged between the old fashioned transport shuttles, talking and lazily examining their weapons. A determined smile pulled at the edges of her mouth. "It look as though Aria was being honest with us," she whispered. "Who would have guessed?"_

_"Aria is honest when it suits her, and I did tell you she knows her station inside and out. She's called the Queen of Omega for a reason."_

_Before Liara could tell Feron exactly what she thought of Aria T'Loak, the loud rumble of an engine echoed through the room. The doors at the far side of the warehouse opened, and a large, sleek ship eased in for a landing. Feron remained hidden behind his pillar, but Liara continued staring over the railing. All of the mercs picked up their weapons and straightened their soldiers. "Looks like we've got company," she whispered as the noise of the engines died away. "Shadow Broker agents?"_

_A ramp extended from the bottom of a ship, and several large, armed soldiers began filing out. They looked far more professional than the Blue Suns, and Feron's expression darkened when he saw them. "Worse. See the big one at the front?"_

_Liara stole another glance over the railing. There was one soldier who stood out from the others, wearing plated armor and clutching a large assault rifle in his hands. He did not have a helmet, and her eyes widened in surprise when she made out his species. "A salarian? You don't see many of them in heavy combat roles…"_

_"That's Tazzik. He's the Broker's one and only hit man, for the rare occasions he wants something… or someone… taken care of. The mercs are just hired muscle. Taz, he's here for results."_

_Tazzik stepped forward, and with the sound of the engines gone, Liara could just make out the echo of his voice from the floor below. "Identification looks right. Is this everything you found?"_

_"Yep," one of the Blue Suns grunted. "Surprised there was that much - human body must be able to take some real punishment."_

_Liara's heart stopped. There, positioned directly between Tazzik and the ship, was a glowing metal box. Even though it was closed, she knew what was inside. "Shepard…"_

_Dead. Shepard was dead. She had known that already - no one could survive the vacuum of space without oxygen - but seeing the proof before her was entirely different. All that was left of her lover was crammed into that horrible box. She narrowed her eyes in determination. Whether Cerberus could breathe life back into Shepard's body or not, there was no way in the galaxy that she would allow the Shadow Broker's agents to take it from her. She would not lose Shepard a second time._

_"That's her," she whispered, jumping to her feet. "It's Shepard! We have to get down there." Biotics rushed along her skin, gathering around her in a buzzing cloud of light and energy. She pulled it into her palms, preparing to leap over the edge of the railing._

_"Wait! What are you doing?" Feron tugged at her arm, dragging her back behind the pillar. She fought against his grip, preparing to blast him back against the wall, but he continued hissing frantically in her ear. "It's too risky. They outnumber us at least three to one down there!" Liara shot him a glare. She had faced far worse odds than that during her time on the SR-1. This would be easy in comparison. But before she could pull away, Feron said something else that made her freeze. "They could haul that box on the ship and fly away before you fought your way close enough."_

_Liara let her biotics flicker out and yanked herself free of Feron's grip. "I've crossed the galaxy for this, Feron. Shepard is down there. Either you help me get to that box, or I make sure there isn't enough left of you to fit inside it."_

_"Fine… Just - just let me think!" She felt a strange sense of satisfaction at the fear she saw glinting in Feron's dark eyes. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep him from betraying her again. At last, he pointed further down along the catwalk. "Check out those old defense turrets up there. I think the guns are still functional. If I can make my way over, I can cover you and disable Tazzik's ship. He won't be going anywhere."_

_Liara stared back down at their targets. Tazzik and a large, muscular krogan in Blue Suns armor were hauling the glowing box toward the ship. They only had another minute, maybe less. "Do it," she said. "They're starting to move Shepard. I need to get closer!" She only waited long enough to make sure that Feron was heading for the turret before sprinting in the opposite direction, running down the stairs to the first floor as quickly and quietly as she could._

_Luck was with her. The mercs were too focused on Tazzik and the box to notice as she slipped behind a stack of shipping crates. She kept head low, gritting her teeth to keep from breathing too loudly. She nearly bit through her lip as one of the Suns carrying the box dropped his end to the floor with a loud thud. The giant salarian - Tazzik - glowered in displeasure and lifted the barrel of his rifle._

_"What's the problem?" the krogan complained. "Not like she's gonna get even more damaged."_

_"No, but you might, I'll take it from here." He motioned to the Shadow Broker agents flanking him on either side, and they swooped in to pick up the box. Liara allowed her biotics to surge to the surface again, gathering all the power she could in her fists and waiting. Feron still hadn't activated the turrets. If he didn't do it soon, she would have to take her chances on her own. "I've got someplace to be," Tazzik continued. "Let's get going before something goes-"_

_A loud boom shook the foundations of the warehouse, and bright light exploded before Liara's eyes. She barely had time to throw up a shield before the crates around her disintegrated in a flash of fiery red. The noise was deafening without her helmet, but she ignored the ringing in her skull and darted out through the smoldering wreckage. The Blue Suns mercs began shouting, firing wildly up at the catwalk. With their backs turned, they were easy targets. She sent them flying through the air, throwing them back with every ounce of rage in her body. Tazzik and the Shadow Broker agents whirled around in surprise, and she pulled her arms back, preparing to send another warp screaming toward them. "Nobody move! That cargo is mine!"_

_For a moment, it looked as though the Shadow Broker agents would stop. They froze half-way up the ramp, but when Tazzik gave a jerk of his head, they continued hurrying onto the ship. Liara leapt forward. The first Shadow Broker agent to step between her and the ship ended up on the floor with his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. She battered back another with a powerful warp before he even had the chance to aim his weapon. The rest were sucked up into the air, dangling helplessly above the wreckage on the floor as she sprinted toward the box._

_But in her hurry, Liara had not been watching Tazzik. He began firing in her direction, not even bothering to duck behind the crates for cover. She turned toward him, preparing to knock the weapon from his hands, but he had already lowered it and started reaching into his belt. "I knew there was a reason I worked alone," he grunted, drawing his arm back for a throw._

_"Grenade!"_

_Before she could react, something hard barrelled into her side. All of the breath left her body as she was dragged to the ground. The scream of the ship's engines flared to life over the noise of the explosion, and wind rushed over her head. Through the flame and smoke, she could just make out the faint glow of the ship's lights as it began to fly away. "No!" she shouted, but her voice was lost in the noise. "Get off me! I've got to find Shepard!"_

_Shepard… Shepard was gone. She was left with only the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. The abrupt silence was unbearable. Even though she knew it was useless, she clambered to her feet, scrambling over the shattered remains of the shipping crates and dragging herself toward the warehouse doors. They were already sealed shut._

_"Liara, no!" a voice called behind her. Feron was still sprawled on the ground, trying to push himself into a sitting position._

_She whirled around, narrowing her eyes and feeding the humming energy of her biotics with her rage. "How… how could be so… incompetent, Feron? You let him get away with Shepard! You're still working for the Broker, aren't you?" He did not answer. "Aren't you?"_

_"I never stopped working for him, so far as he knows, but I didn't shoot you on purpose! I don't want Shepard's body going to the collectors, but I told you this is complicated."_

_"I don't believe you," she snarled, raising her glowing fists._

_Feron clawed his way backwards, still panting with fear. "You don't have to believe me, just listen. Now, you can blast me, or we can go after Taz. My ship is nearby. We can follow him before he gets away with Shepard!"_

_Shepard. The angry fog inside her head faded. Shepard was always her first priority. Whether Feron was a traitor did not matter. He had a ship, and a ship was what she needed if she was going to have any chance of catching up with that box. She reached down and gripped his arm, hauling him roughly onto his feet. "You'd better be right this time, Feron. If you can't help me find Shepard, I'm done with you, and you're done for."_

_. . ._

_**Illium, 2185** _

_"Liara, are you sure this is what you want me to be doing right now?"_

The sound of Shepard's voice coming in over the comm channel made Liara look up from the datapad she had been holding. If she was being honest with herself, she couldn't remember a single word she had read. Even the promising lead that Shepard and Nyxeris had given her was not enough to capture her attention. A small smile pulled at her lips, and she set the datapad aside. Thoughts of the previous night had interrupted her work long before Shepard had tried to contact her. "Yes, Shepard," she said, leaning back in her chair. "We have to find the Observer. I wish I could spend more time with you, but this is more important."

 _"You could have come with me, you know,"_  Shepard said. Her words took on a teasing lilt, but Liara could sense the sadness behind them. _"It would have been just like the old days. Morning sex, breakfast, a dangerous mission before lunch..."_

Liara turned her chair, staring through the glass wall of her office. A steady line of traffic curved around the building, and she could see several people walking in the market below. Was Shepard one of them? Her skin still tingled at the memory of Shepard's touch, and she saw Shepard's face each time she closed her eyes. "I wish I could," she murmured. "But we both know I would be too easily recognized. If the Shadow Broker suspects that I'm anywhere close to discovering the Observer's identity..."

 _"I know. Hold on."_  The connection remained silent for several moments, and Liara held her breath.  _"Nothing,"_  Shepard sighed a moment later.  _"This vorcha doesn't look promising. I'll have to keep looking."_

Liara swallowed, trying to conceal her disappointment. "It's all right, Shepard. There is still one more terminal to go."

 _"Stay on the line with me until then?"_  Shepard asked.  _"I… missed hearing your voice. You know, after I woke up."_

A twinge of guilt tugged at Liara's heart, and she turned away from the window. She still had not told Shepard about the recovery of her body, or her decision to hand it over to Cerberus. She had been tempted to reveal the truth that morning, when Shepard woke her with kisses and a wonderful smelling plate of food, but she hadn't been strong enough to shatter the illusion of normalcy. She resisted the impulse once again and rested her forearms on top of her desk. "Of course I'll stay, Shepard." Silence stretched out between them. "I'm just not sure what to say."

 _"Well, you could always tell me more about why you hate the Shadow Broker so much…"_  Liara pressed her lips together and ignored the question.  _"Or more about why you and Miranda seem to know each other…"_  The line of her shoulders tensed. She remained quiet.  _"Okay, I get the message. Why don't I tell you about the new crew?"_

Liara let out a sigh of relief. She already knew about the SR2's crew thanks to Miranda's sparse reports and her own her diligent research, but she was grateful for a safe topic of conversation. "All right. Do you think they are up to the task of facing the Collectors?"

Shepard laughed.  _"Well… sort of. I don't know where Cerberus managed to scrounge some of these guys up from, but let me tell you, they're almost as crazy as the old gang. There's Grunt, a huge krogan with a serious attitude problem. We found him floating in a tank on Korlus, and he started causing problems as soon as we let him out. Then there's Kasumi. She's a thief, and you don't see her half the time. She's got this invisibility mod, and she's always prowling around the ship, listening in on other people's conversations…"_

Liara began to relax as she listened to Shepard talk about her new crew. The excitement was back in her voice, and she almost sounded the same as she had two years ago during their more lighthearted adventures. She let her mind drift back and closed her eyes. Her memories of the SR1 were not all bad. There had been moments of love, laughter, and exhilaration mixed in with the fear and grief. Once again, she was tempted to abandon her quest for revenge and join Shepard on the Normandy. It would be just as Shepard said. Just like the old days…

Only things were different now. Shepard had a new crew, and a new mission to complete. She had debts to repay. And no matter how much she wished she could, turning back time was impossible.

Shepard interrupted her thoughts, drawing her out of her silence.  _"I'm at the last terminal. Stand by."_

There was a long pause, and a shiver rolled down Liara's spine. Her impatience quickly got the better of her. "Shepard? Did you get any information on the Observer?"

_"All five of the suspects are male. The Observer is female. Something's not right… who gave you this lead?"_

"My assistant, Nyxeris. She got the information. Nyxeris... gave me the information…" The realization hit her all at once. Nyxeris had betrayed her. Just like Feron. Just like Cerberus. All this time, her assistant had been feeding information to the Shadow Broker. How could she have missed it? She narrowed her eyes and stood up from her desk, feeling the subtle twitch of energy around her fingers as she called her biotics to the surface of her skin. "Nyxeris? Could I see you in here for a moment?"

_"Liara, I'm coming back to your office. Don't -"_

Liara did not wait for Shepard to finish. "I'll talk to you later, Shepard," she whispered as she ended the connection.

A moment later, Nyxeris appeared in the doorway. She looked the same as usual, alert and attentive, with a polite smile on her face. Nothing about her read 'Shadow Broker agent'... which was probably the reason she had been chosen for this assignment in the first place. "Ma'am? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Actually, there is. Tell me, Nyxeris - who do you work for?"

Only the slight widening of Nyxeris's eyes revealed her apprehension. "Who do I work for? You, of course, Miss T'Soni. Are you... unsatisfied with my services?"

"No… but I'm afraid your real boss will be." Nyxeris froze as she stepped out from behind the desk, revealing her glowing fists. "Tell me, how long have you been working for the Shadow Broker? Were you in his employment all along, or did he manage to buy you off after I hired you?" Nyxeris did not bother offering an excuse. She dodged backwards, trying to duck out through the open doorway. Liara did not let her travel more than a few steps. She tugged Nyxeris back with a powerful surge, dragging her across the carpet.

Once Nyxeris realized she could not escape, she let her own biotics erupt, whirling around and sending a burst of blue light screaming toward her head. Liara threw up her hands, folding her arms tight against her chest. Her barrier solidified just in time. Nyxeris's biotics collided with her own in a brilliant flash. Glass shattered behind her, and the office walls shook with the force of the explosion.

Nyxeris snarled in frustration, gathering more crackling light around her fist, but Liara was faster. She ducked behind the desk, avoiding the series of warps that flew out through the shattered wall. Her forehead tightened in concentration. Nyxeris clearly meant to kill her. She would only have one chance to overpower her attacker. She jumped back to her feet and whipped her arms forward, launching a singularity field above Nyxeris's head. Purple light ripped through the fabric of the air, and Nyxeris stumbled back, trying to shield herself from the field's pull. She managed to keep her feet on the ground, but the effort stole her concentration.

The opening only lasted a split second, but it was all Liara needed. She leapt over the desk and sent her own warp barreling toward the center of Nyxeris's barrier. There was a moment of utter stillness, and then its surface rippled and bent, flickering out of existence. Nyxeris stared at her in shock, and Liara did not give her time to recover. She folded her hand around her former assistant's throat and lifted her into the air. "For what it's worth, I would have paid you double the Broker's fee. Good help is hard to find."

Nyxeris writhed in her grip, but it was too late. Liara sent her flying out through the open window with one final blast, only watching long enough to make sure she hit the ground several stories below. The twisted angle of her body made it clear that she would not get back up again. She closed her eyes and turned away, hardening her heart against the regret that already threatened to creep in around the edges. It had been foolish of her to trust Nyxeris. Dealing with Feron should have taught her better.

She picked her way carefully over the broken glass, heading out of her office and stopping beside Nyxeris's desk. Hopefully, she would be able to find something useful before the Shadow Broker found out that the Observer had been compromised. On the way, she activated her Omnitool, scanning her contacts for a familiar face. "Hello? Faz? I'm afraid there's been an incident at my office today. I'm going to need a clean-up crew here as soon as possible..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a few minor differences from canon, most notably in Miranda Lawson's role, but I don't think anyone will mind them. I needed to get the ball rolling, plot-wise.

**_Alingon - Hourglass Nebula, 2183_ **

Liara’s face pulled into a tight frown as she scowled down at her Omnitool. “Are you sure we’re headed in the right direction? I can’t get a signal at all. I’m not sure your Shadow Broker chose the right real estate for a command center.”

“You’d be wrong.” Feron crouched down near the edge of the cliff, peering out over the choppy mountains. Liara followed his gaze. Alingon’s surface seemed remote and uninhabited, but surely that was the point. Aside from the planet’s electromagnetic interference, it did seem like an ideal place for someone who did not want to be found. “The Broker’s got a system powerful enough to cut through the field, but only he has access to it.”

“An extra layer of protection?”

Feron shook his head. “An extra layer of control. All orders and offworld communications are filtered through him.”

“It sounds to me like he doesn’t trust anyone,” Liara murmured. That fit with what little she knew of the Broker. He seemed deeply suspicious of everyone, even the people working for him… and considering Feron’s wavering tendencies, perhaps it was a wise mindset to have. It certainly explained why he had remained hidden for so long. “So, if we can’t get a signal, how are we going to find him?”

“We don’t need to find him,” Feron said. He swung his legs over the edge of the cliff and started scaling the side, clambering from rock to rock at a surprisingly fast pace.

Liara hurried to catch up. She had done her fair share of climbing during her days as an archaeologist, although she had never enjoyed it. The surface of the cliff was steep, but thankfully, there were plenty of footholds in the uneven rock. Once she caught up to Feron, she hopped the last thirty feet, letting her biotics slow her fall as she landed in the dust below. “What do you mean we don’t need to find him?” she asked as Feron joined her. “Without a signal, we’re…”

The drell pointed over her shoulder. “I mean we’re already here.”

Liara turned around. Tucked behind another jagged cliff was a tall communications tower. She hadn’t been able to see it from the clifftop, but it was surprisingly large, and judging from the turrets perched nearby, it was also well-defended. “How do we get in?” she whispered, lowering her voice even though there was no one else in sight.

Feron removed his helmet, tucking it beneath his arm. He gave her a confident grin, one she could not quite bring herself to believe. “It shouldn’t be a problem. They know my face. If I walk up and tell them I’m bringing you to see the Broker, they won’t be able to contact him and double-check. He has to give all his orders in person because of the interference.”

Liara nodded and reached for her pistol. “All right, then. Ready?”

“Not while you’re holding that. Put it away. If we’re going to make this convincing, you’ll have to pretend to be my prisoner. Hand it over.”

After a long, silent moment of hesitation, Liara passed the pistol over to Feron. As much as she hated the idea of giving up her weapon, it wouldn’t make sense for her to carry it. “All right,” she said, keeping her fists clenched until he had attached the pistol to his belt. “But if you try to double cross me again, I won’t let you live long enough for any more whining explanations.”

Feron’s smile flickered for a moment, but he managed to keep it in place. “Fair enough. Now come on. We’ve got to hurry. Taz should already be here with Shepard’s body.”

Liara’s face set in determination at the sound of Shepard’s name. She wouldn’t rest until her lover was out of the Broker’s hands. “Lead the way.”

They approached the base at a swift trot, only pausing when the front entrance came into view. Two armed turians were standing beside the door, too busy talking with each other to notice their arrival. Feron drew his pistol, and Liara could not help flinching a little when he pointed it at her head. She still didn’t trust him, even though he had come all this way to help her. “Morning, gentlemen,” he called out, dragging her forward by the arm. “I’ve got a delivery. Someone the Broker wants to see.”

The turians bristled at first, but relaxed as soon as they recognized Feron. Both of them lowered their weapons, and one extended his hand in greeting. “Hey, Feron. Good to see you. But you’re not on our list for today. What are you doing here?”

Feron pressed the pistol into the curve of her cheek, and Liara’s face twisted at the feel of cold metal against her skin. “I’m not on your list, no, but since when does the Broker tell you everything that’s on his list?”

The other turian did not look convinced. He set his weapon aside and brought out a datapad, scrolling through the screen with one of his talons. “No, but we’re supposed to know everyone who’s coming. The list...”

“The list, the list,” Feron drawled. He let go of her arm and lowered the pistol, and Liara forced herself to stare at the ground. She didn’t want the turians to be wary of her, even if she would rather smash them through the wall than wait for Feron to talk his way inside. “If your list was his list, you’d be the Broker. Are you the Broker, Delwian?”

“No, of course not, but-”

“Didn’t think so. How about you, Joppa? Are you the Broker?”

The first turian gave a grating chuckle. “Heh. Naw. Wouldn’t be the first time the Broker changed things up on us at the last minute. What business are you running today, Feron?”

Feron grinned and nudged his shoulder. “Well, it obviously involves shapely asari escorts. Maybe I can find another one for you on my next run, eh?”

Both turians turned to look at her, and Liara clenched her fists behind her back, unable to resist giving them a disapproving scowl. To her pleasure, it seemed to intimidate them. Although they laughed, they maintained a safe distance. Obviously, they had fought asari before, and did not underestimate her even though she was Feron’s ‘prisoner’.

“Let’s hope she’s friendlier for the Broker,” one of them said. “She looks like she wants to kill you, Feron.”

The edges of Liara’s lips threatened to twitch up into a smirk. The turian had spoken more truth than he realized. Feron grabbed her arm again, and she followed him to the base’s entrance as he strolled confidently past the two guards. “Yeah, well, I’d better get going. Good to see you guys. Next time, yeah?”

They stepped inside a moment later, and Liara held her breath as she took in the narrow, dimly lit room. This was certainly not what she had expected. The place was nearly deserted, and only a few armored mercs were wandering the halls. She dropped her arms and walked at Feron’s side, glancing around as they made their way through the base. “I think the Broker takes this shadow thing a little too seriously. Where is everyone?”

Feron stepped aside as a large batarian brushed past him, barely sparing them a second glance. They turned a corner, and the few mercs who had been going about their business disappeared. “There aren’t many people. This place is only used for special business the Broker needs to conduct, and Shepard qualifies as valuable cargo.”

Liara gritted her teeth. “I’m getting tired of having my lover described as merchandise, Feron. Without her, none of us would be alive now. You could stand to speak with a little more respect.”

“I’m not sure she’s caring much, but I hear you…” Feron’s voice trailed off, and Liara let out a surprised gasp when she saw what he was staring at. Standing several yards away was one of the strangest creatures she had ever seen. It was tall, almost as tall as a krogan, and although it wasn’t wearing clothes, its entire body was covered in what looked like a hard, uneven shell. Its forehead was broad at the front, spreading over its skull like a helmet, and set in the middle of its shadowy face were four glowing eyes.

She darted back, plastering herself against the wall as she retreated around the corner. But her memories of the creature were so strange that she began to doubt herself, and she peeked out just enough to look at it again. The bizarre alien was still there, walking beside a round little volus. They were conversing with each other, and when she leaned closer, she could just make out their words.

“...and the package has arrived on the North Dock. I assure you, it is just as described.”

The creature fixed the glowing orange beams of its eyes onto the volus, and Liara backed away again. She did not need to see anymore to know what it was: a Collector. One of the strange, reclusive creatures that wanted to take Shepard away from her. “It had better be,” the Collector said. Its voice formed words her translator could understand, but the low, rumbling sound was deeply unsettling. “It had better be, but you know that. We will not tolerate dishonesty or delay.”

To her relief - to her terror - the creature and the volus continued down the hallway, leaving them behind and disappearing around yet another corner. She pushed away from the wall and started after them, twisting the energy around her into flickering blue threads around her fists. That thing was going after Shepard. There was no way she would let it get close enough to touch her.

Before she reached the end of the hall, a firm hand grabbed her elbow, trying to drag her backwards. “Wait, Liara! I know where they’re headed-”

She whirled around, yanking her arm out of Feron’s grip and glaring at him. “Then take me there. Now.”

“We couldn’t get in yet even if we wanted to. It’ll take them a while to pressurize the landing bay. We need to find out more about why they’re doing the deal first.”

Reluctantly, Liara let her biotics die out. Her shoulders slumped, and she realized that her heart was racing. “Did you see that… that thing? How could the Shadow Broker give Shepard to them? What do you think they want with her?” Despite the Collector’s frightening appearance, it was its unknown motives that terrified her the most. Losing Shepard once had been terrible enough, but knowing that she was minutes away from being delivered to these horrible creatures was unbearable.

Feron sighed. “I don’t know. I always trusted the Shadow Broker before. He seemed like a neutral player in the game, working for the highest bidder. But this… this, I don’t understand. Maybe it’s why I’m helping you. I want to know more.”

. . .

**_Illium, 2186_ **

By the time Shepard arrived back at her office, things were relatively calm again. She had used her biotics to shift the shards of glass into a pile near the corner of the room, and aside from the broken window, the rest of the furniture remained undisturbed. It almost seemed like another normal day at work until Shepard came bursting into the room, chest heaving and gun drawn. “Liara, are you all right?” she barked. Her eyes were full of worry behind her visor, but the nose of her shotgun stayed straight.

Liara smiled and left her chair, pushing it back in as she stood. “I am fine, Shepard.” The reassurance didn’t seem to help, so she reached out to squeeze one of Shepard’s gloved hands, urging her to lower her gun. “I promise.”

Shepard sighed with relief, holstering her weapon and removing her helmet. She finally seemed to notice the broken window, and her lips turned up in a proud smile. “You didn’t have any trouble with Nyxeris, did you?”

“She was very talented. I imagine if the Broker had ordered her to assassinate me, I’d never have seen her coming.” Her eyes followed Shepard’s to the busy lanes of traffic zooming by below. “But her barriers needed practice... practice I’m afraid she won’t be getting.”

The hand clasping hers loosened, and strong arms wrapped around her instead. Warm lips brushed her temple, and Shepard’s ragged breath hit the edge of her cheek. She was still frightened, more frightened than Liara had ever seen her during their old missions together. But things had changed since then. As much as she hated to admit it, Miranda Lawson had been right after all. She was a distraction.

“Liara, I was so worried…”

“I hate to sound callous, but I’ve spent two years without you, Shepard. I ached for you every day, but I don’t need you to keep me alive. I can handle myself.”

“I know, I know.” Shepard placed one last kiss on her forehead before taking a step back.

Liara almost reached out, but forced herself to remain still. She couldn’t stay in Shepard’s arms forever, no matter how wonderful it felt. She had things to do. Data to analyze… “Oh, that reminds me. Nyxeris had some interesting data hidden away. I’m one step closer to the Shadow Broker thanks to you.”

The news did little to ease the expression of worry on Shepard’s face. A line creased the middle of her forehead, and her lips pressed tight together. “So, what’s the next step in your hunt? Anything I can do to help? You know, just in case another undercover spy tries to assassinate you.”

“This is no joking matter, Shepard. I need to gather information, peel away layers of lies, shine light into the shadows.” The tide of memories came again. Burn-blackened skin. The utter stillness of Shepard’s corpse. Feron’s terrified face. The pain became anger, and her eyes narrowed. “And when I find the Shadow Broker, I’ll hit him with a biotic field so strong that what’s left of his body will fit into a coffee cup.”

“That anger can’t be just from what you’ve told me,” Shepard said. “What else happened between you and the Shadow Broker?”

Liara’s fury faltered. She clung to it, knowing rage was her only protection against hurt, but it slipped through the cracks in her fingers. She couldn’t stand it when Shepard used that voice, so soft and full of understanding. Perhaps it was time to explain. She knew she couldn’t, shouldn’t burden Shepard with her secrets, but they were already fighting to get out. Keeping Shepard in the dark about what it had been like, how she had felt… it was too much to ask of herself.

She sighed and turned away, gazing out at the sky. It was unnaturally clear. Another part of Illium’s too-perfect atmosphere. “Did Cerberus ever tell you how they recovered your body?” She didn’t wait for Shepard to answer. She had to do this now, before she talked herself out of it again. “I gave it to them. I gave you to them, Shepard. Because they said you could rebuild you. And to do that, I had to take it from the Shadow Broker. He was going to sell your corpse to the Collectors.”

Silence held for several moments. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around, and Shepard didn’t speak. Then, she heard the soft scrape of footsteps over the carpet. Hands settled on her shoulders, and she recognized the touch even through the material of Shepard’s gloves. “Liara… why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“Because I screwed it up. I barely escaped with my own life. And when I gave you to Cerberus, I told myself I was doing it for you. For a chance to bring you back. But I knew Cerberus would use you for their own business. And I let it happen. Because…” Her voice cracked, and she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back the spill of tears. Two years, and she had never cried in front of anyone else. Not until Shepard’s return. Now, tears seemed to come whenever Shepard was close to her. “Because I couldn’t let you go. I’m sorry.”

“You did the right thing, Liara. This mission is important. I couldn’t do it if you hadn’t given me to Cerberus.”

Liara couldn’t stand it anymore. She turned back, and the love in Shepard’s eyes broke her. The tears she had been fighting streamed down her face. “Thank you, Shepard. I was afraid you’d hate me.”

“I could never hate you...”

She almost gave in, almost rushed back into Shepard’s arms, but before she could move, another voice spoke from the other side of the room. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak with the two of you immediately.” Shepard turned, and Liara used the movement as cover to brush her tears away. Miranda Lawson stood at the far end of her office, one generous hip propped against the doorframe. Although her pose was relaxed, there was something tense beneath the smooth lines of her body.

Liara hurried to regain control of her emotions. Despite the faith Shepard had placed in her, Agent Lawson was still loyal to Cerberus. She did not want to appear weak in front of a potential enemy. “If you’re sorry, then leave,” she said in a clipped voice. “We were having a private conversation. Unless you’re still concerned that I’m a distraction…”

Miranda pushed away from the door and started toward them. “I guarantee you’ll want to hear what I have to say, Doctor T’Soni. The Illusive Man provided me with some intel I think you’ll be interested in. Here, take a look.” She withdrew a sleek datapad and passed it over.

Liara’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as she reached out to take it, but she quickly forgot her irritation. A salarian’s face appeared on the screen, and her eyes widened as she listened to what he was saying. “This… this is a leaked transmission between Shadow Broker operatives,” she said, not even bothering to hide her disbelief. “Where did you get this?”

“I’ve only had it for a few days,” Miranda said. Her voice was a little too casual, and she continued when Liara gave her a look. “The Illusive Man wasn’t sure you’d trust our intel, or even Shepard. But from what I’ve seen, the two of you are back on good terms. The more stable you are, the more stable Shepard is, and killing an ally of the Collectors will be beneficial to all of us.”

Liara felt a flutter of uncertainty. Even though she was burning with curiosity, she paused the video feed on the datapad. The past two years had taught her to trust her instincts. “Are you sure that’s your real motivation, Agent Lawson?”

“I’m not heartless, Liara,” Miranda said, meeting her eyes. She could see nothing but sincerity in them. “You might not believe it, but Shepard’s my friend. I owe her more than I can say. And despite what I told you before, she’s going to need your support. This is one loose end we have to tie up before we breach the Omega 4 Relay.”

It took Liara several moments to decide how she wanted to react. Finally, she settled on thanks. “I won’t turn down help, even if it comes from unexpected sources. Let me take another look at this data.” She tapped the screen, and the image flickered, transitioning to a map. “It’s surprisingly thorough. There are some hints as to the Shadow Broker’s location, and…” Another figure appeared, and this time, she gasped. The name fumbled from her lips without her permission. “Feron. He’s still alive.”

“Your friend?” Shepard asked. “The one who helped you rescue my body from the Shadow Broker?”

“The same.” Even though it had been years since Feron’s capture, she recognized him instantly. She hadn’t dared to hope she would see him again. “He sacrificed himself to save me. I never found anything suggesting he was alive. After two years, I hadn’t even dreamed…”

The image cut off, and Liara set the datapad on top of her desk. Feron’s face remained burned in her brain until Shepard touched her shoulder. “If he’s been the Shadow Broker’s prisoner for two years, he may not be in good shape. Are you sure you can handle that?”

“I know. But yesterday, all I wanted was the chance to avenge his death. Today, he’s alive.” Alive. She wasn’t sure what she had done to deserve two miracles in such a short time, but she wouldn’t waste them. This might be her only chance to put everything right. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to get him back.”

“Any friend of yours is a friend of mine,” Shepard said. “I’m going with you. No arguments. What’s the next step?”

Liara hesitated. She glanced back down at the datapad even though it had already switched off. “I… I don’t know,” she murmured, picking it up with shaking fingers. “I need to prepare. To think.” And although she was sorry to admit it, she couldn’t come up with a plan around Shepard. The news about Feron had already distracted her enough. She tucked the datapad and headed for the door, passing Miranda on the way out. “I’m going home. Use my terminal if you need any local intel.”

“Wait! You can’t just leave...” Shepard seemed to catch herself. She tried again, more sympathetically this time. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Liara turned back, and her expression softened when she saw the hurt on Shepard’s face. “This is overwhelming for me, Shepard. Not quite as overwhelming as seeing you alive again after two years, but difficult to process nonetheless. I just need a little time. Once I come up with a plan, I promise to let you help me.”

Shepard nodded, although she didn’t look happy about giving in. “Can I at least come by your apartment later?”

“I’m already counting on it. Hopefully I’ll have some ideas by then.” She cast one last glance in Miranda’s direction. “Perhaps you should come too, Agent Lawson. I still can’t afford to trust you yet, but I appreciate what you’ve done for me. Hopefully, taking down the Shadow Broker will benefit both of us.”


	9. Chapter 9

 

_**Alingon - Hourglass Nebula, 2183** _

“And if there’s one thing I’ve learned as an information trader, it’s that if you need to know something more, you go to the source.”

Liara followed Feron into the dimly lit room, lingering a few steps behind. She scanned her surroundings, hands clenched in preparation. There didn't appear to be anyone else nearby, but she was too cautious to let her guard down. Glowing terminals lined both sides of the metallic walkway, and the set-up almost reminded her of the lecture halls from her years at university. But instead of a professor, a holoprojector stood in the center of the room. It was cast in shadow, but the stripes of light that highlighted the edges of its shape gave her an outline: human, masculine, broad-shouldered and stiff. Wherever this image had come from, she doubted it was an accurate representation of the Shadow Broker's appearance.

The figure’s head turned toward them, and she realized it was faceless. It had no eyes, no nose, no mouth. Just blank, silvery-white space. When it spoke, its voice was equally bland, layered and distorted so many times over that it was impossible to detect its species, age, or gender. "Reporting in for work, Feron?" Even without eyes, Liara could sense its attention fixing on the drell. "People only come to see the Shadow Broker when I call, Trader. I didn't call."

A pulse of fear rushed down her spine. This was the person who had taken Shepard from her. This was the person who had almost killed her and Feron several times over. But instead of reacting with fear, she narrowed her eyes. The Shadow Broker's presentation was terrifying, but also ridiculous. "Are they being serious?" she asked, not bothering to stifle her disgust. She was angry, and she wanted the Shadow Broker to feel angry with her - whoever they were. "Why does the most powerful secret-trader in the galaxy feel the need to put on such a ridiculous production and speak through a machine?"

Feron fidgeted nervously, giving her a look that clearly said to stop talking. "This is how he addresses everyone who comes in here. I've never been this close before."

The Shadow Broker did not answer her. Instead, the holo continued 'looking' at Feron. "I'm waiting for an answer, drell. Since when do you think you can come in here uninvited?"

Liara clenched her teeth. The fact that the Shadow Broker failed to acknowledge her only fed the fire of her rage. "Since you stole Shepard from me and started working for the Collectors. Is that explanation simple enough for you, or do I need to repeat myself?"

At last, the Broker’s machine seemed to notice her. It did not react with anger. Instead, its voice remained measured, calm, and utterly empty of emotion. "Interesting. I see sending the Blue Suns after you was a wise precaution, Doctor T'Soni, even if they did fail me. Yes, I know who you are and what you want. But I'm disappointed in you, Feron. You're supposed to be a businessman. You should understand when I say their offer was too good to pass up."

Blue light flared to life around Liara's hands. She started forward, heading for the platform. Feron reached out to stop her, but she shook him aside. "I don't understand," she shouted, brandishing a fist. "I don't understand anyone selling my bondmate's remains. What did they offer you? What could possibly be worth desecrating a hero's memory and working with those things?"

Feron arrived back at her side, whispering urgently beside her crest. "Liara, wait! I know you don't trust me, but give me a minute with these systems. They handle everything-"

"The compensation is my business, Doctor T'Soni, but it was significant enough..."

"- I can find out what the Broker ordered here. How he's going to hand over Shepard-"

"... I have nothing personal against you or Commander Shepard. It was just sound business."

Liara hesitated, but only for a moment. She pushed her anger aside and gave Feron a small, stiff nod. She would keep the Broker distracted. His avatar couldn't move, and if he didn't call the guards while they continued their conversation, no one could stop Feron from using the terminals. "You don't know what you're dealing with," she spat while Feron hurried over to the nearest screen. She saw him hunch over out of the corner of her eye, but didn't turn in his direction. She approached the platform, standing right at its rim. Her biotics crawled up along her arms, swathing her entire torso in flickering blue threads of energy. "My lover died looking for evidence of the Reapers. The ones who destroyed the Citadel. The ones who are trying to destroy the entire galaxy! Did you ever consider the Collectors' interest might be related? What would possibly be worth that risk?"

"You make too much of this, Doctor. It's a corpse. What could they possibly gain from it?"

"She is more than just a corpse. But if the Collectors are looking for a body, I might find an alternative for them." She stepped closer, until the inner workings of the holo projector became clear. To her surprise, it wasn't all light and air. It had a metallic body, and she could see the cameras mounted on its torso. "I don't know where you are, but I'm going to make it my mission to track you down. You didn't just steal Shepard from me. You're putting the entire galaxy at risk!"

"It's too late, Doctor T'Soni. Tazzik is about to make the exchange. Product for payment. Right now, the only people who aren't where they need to be - are you two. This room connects me to my permanent staff on Alingon. As soon as I give the word, they'll come. If you're working for someone else, they'll get it out of you. It's not my usual way to gain information, but it's effective..."

"Liara, I've got it!" Feron shouted from behind her. "Let loose!"

She didn't need to be told twice. At last, she released the energy that had been building in every fiber of her body. It exploded outward, rushing through her bones, muscles, skin. Light rippled through the room, and she sent a warp screaming at the projector. It shattered in a shower of sparks, wrinkling into a pile of blackened, burning metal. But she wasn't satisfied. Destroying a simple machine couldn't make up for what the Broker had done to Shepard. Her Shepard.

She threw her arms out, and a massive wave of energy lashed out on either side. It sent a shockwave throughout the entire room, toppling furniture and shattering screens. All the lights died, and the floor beneath her shook with the force of the explosion. She channeled every ounce of anger, grief, and rage into her biotics, and by the time they ebbed, the room was unrecognizable. Smoke rose from the floor, and not a single corner was left untouched.

Slowly, she lifted her head. Feron was standing near the doorway, peeking out from beneath his arms. He seemed half-terrified by the display, but he was also smiling. She didn't smile back, but she did breathe a  much-needed sigh of relief. "That felt good," she told him, joining him near the exit.

"I bet. He definitely won't be ordering anyone from this room anymore. And I downloaded a lot of data about the Broker's dealings."

Her rage faded, and overwhelming sadness rushed in to fill the empty hole in her chest. "Yes, but we've lost Shepard. The Broker said the "transaction" was complete. The Collectors have Shepard's body."

"Not yet," Feron said. "Before the display went out, it said they've just arrived at the north portal. We might still have time."

Liara's eyes snapped open. She grabbed Feron's shoulder, dragging him toward the hallway. "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"We will, but first, while we still have the chance, I'd better tell you who I'm really working for."

* * *

_**Illium, 2186** _

Liara drummed her fingers on top of the breakfast bar, folding one leg over the other. Occasionally, she glanced down at the datapad in front of her, chewing at her lip with impatience. She kept seeing faces - ghosts - reflected across its surface. _Shepard. Feron. Nothing is the way I thought it was._

Shepard's return had already shaken her world, but the fact that Feron had survived as well was almost beyond belief. Against her better judgment, her heart began to hope. Perhaps things were finally changing. Once her contact came through with an analyzed version of Miranda's data, once she rescued Feron, once she tracked the Shadow Broker down and killed him... perhaps she could finally put the last two horrible years behind her. Maybe she could even retake her rightful place at Shepard's side.

 _'Not yet,'_ she thought pushing the datapad aside. ' _It’s not over yet.'_  Nothing was as she thought, but nothing was certain, either. She still had a job to do, and this was the worst possible time to become distracted. If she wanted any chance of reclaiming what she had lost, she needed to stay focused.

She activated her Omnitool and checked the time. Shepard was due at her apartment in twenty five minutes. Her meeting with Sekat, her salarian informant, was scheduled immediately afterward. Hopefully, he had done as promised and narrowed Cerberus's data down to a star system. In two years, she had never come so close to discovering the Shadow Broker's location. None of the agents she had killed so far had known where his base of operations was hidden, and he guarded his privacy with such ferocity that Liara knew she wouldn't get another chance.

With a sigh, she tucked the datapad under her arm and headed for the living room. She was too anxious to stay seated. She needed to move. To use some of the nervous energy simmering in her body. Her mind began making lists without her permission. Shepard would be here soon. They would head for the Baria Frontiers office together. Meet with Sekat and get the coordinates. Board the Normandy. Come up with a plan to strike during the jump between systems. Simple.

A sharp, splitting crack tore beside Liara's head. Glass shattered around her, and she dove for cover on instinct, throwing herself behind the couch. The painful noise echoed in her head for several seconds, then vanished. She waited, tense and breathless, listening for the sound of gunfire and clutching the datapad to her chest. Nothing came. There was only silence.

Summoning a biotic shield to protect herself, Liara peeked over the top of the couch. She could just make out two spiderwebbed holes in the window, right near where she had just been standing. It was another Broker agent. Had to be. She never should have killed Nyxeris. Somehow, her assistant's death had alerted the Broker to her activities. Maybe he even knew she was minutes away from finding the coordinates to his base...

The coordinates. Sekat. She had to find him before the Broker did.

Liara stole another look at the bullet holes. Sniper rifle, most likely a high-grade weapon to punch through her window from a distance. Thank the Goddess she had installed those kinetic barriers around the apartment. They were probably the only reason she was still alive. She stepped out from behind the couch and hurried back toward the kitchen, ducking low just in case. If the assassin wanted to make another attempt in person, it would take them at least a few minutes to reach her apartment on foot from their hiding place. That gave her just enough time.

Shepard. She needed to call Shepard. But what if the Broker was listening? Her office was already being monitored, and she suspected her Omnitool was as well, thanks to Nyxeris. She couldn't risk contacting Shepard and revealing her location through normal channels. She needed a way to leave a message, to tell Shepard where she was going without putting either of them in danger.

Once she was well away from the window, she flipped over her datapad and pried open the small panel at the back. Inside was a round red disc, a local copy of all the recent calls she had made from the device. Over the past few years, she had fallen into the habit of recording everything. Her conversation with Sekat was the most recent file on the datapad's storage drive. If she could leave it somewhere Shepard would find it...

A smile spread across Liara’s face. The Broker was smart, but she was smarter. She had been awaiting this moment for years, and her preparations were about to pay off. The Prothean decorations around her apartment were more than scientific curiosities, and several of the display cases held secret compartments. She clutched the disc in her damp palm and scurried over to the tall glass case between the kitchen and the living room. With a few swipes of her fingers, she opened a small drawer beneath the case and popped the disc inside.

Once the data was secure, glanced down at her Omni-tool again to check the time. Two minutes had passed since the assassin had tried to take her out. She only had two more at most, but she needed to make sure Shepard could find the disc before she left. Her eyes darted around the living room, looking for inspiration. It hit when her gaze fixed on Shepard’s old N7 chestplate. Finding it had taken no small amount of effort on her part, but now, it would serve a purpose beyond nostalgia. She hurried over to the armor and opened the case, crouching down on her knees to make sure her head wasn’t visible from the window. She doubted the sniper was still waiting for a second shot, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

“Come on,” she muttered, gritting her teeth in frustration as she scanned the armor with her Omni-tool. “Pick up a sample, please…” For a moment, she feared too much time had passed. Shepard hadn’t worn this chestplate in over two years. The DNA easily could have been destroyed or contaminated. But a few seconds later, the grid of light from her Omni-tool’s camera flashed green, and words popped up on the screen. _‘DNA Analysis Complete’._

As soon as the scan finished, Liara ran up the stairs, whipping around the corner on her way to the bedroom. Where would Shepard look first? What would she be most likely to touch? Her eyes caught the photograph on the nightstand beside her bed. The SR-1 floated peacefully through space, just as it had before the arrival of the Collectors. How many nights had she spent staring at that picture, holding onto that memory and wishing she could go back? She took the picture and synced it with her Omnitool, typing furiously.

Thankfully, uploading Shepard’s DNA to the frame’s software only took a few moments. As soon as Shepard touched it, she would know exactly where to hunt for the disc. Liara set the picture back in place as carefully as she could and reached down to her hip, checking for her Carnifex. It was a good thing she always walked around with a full clip. If things went as planned, she was going to need it. She hurried back down the stairs and slipped out through the front door, hurrying toward the elevator.

On the ride down, her head was filled with the sound of her own rapid heartbeat and heavy breathing. She drew her gun as soon as the lift lurched to a stop on the bottom floor, plastering her back against the wall and aiming the nose around the corner. No one appeared to be waiting for her. The building seemed abandoned. Perhaps her neighbors had heard the gunshots and were holing up in their apartments, waiting for the police to arrive.

Cautiously, she crept out of the elevator and toward the front door. The sound of footsteps approaching from the opposite direction made her jump, and she crouched down behind one of the tall, decorative ferns in the lobby, hoping she could stay out of sight long enough to get a clear shot. Whoever was walking about had to be brave, stupid, or… or perhaps the agent sent to kill her had finally caught up. She pushed one of the leaves aside, peeking out to try and catch a glimpse of the intruder.

Asari. Full armor. Enough firepower to take out an entire merc squad. Liara was almost disappointed. She had expected the Shadow Broker to send someone more subtle to kill her. She stayed tucked away, hiding in the shadows as she tried to get a better look at the woman’s face. Her facial tattoos were a deep, vivid purple, a series of broken stripes that reminded Liara of an Earth predator she had seen in one of Shepard’s old vids. What had its name been? _Oh, yes. Tiger._

She waited, barely breathing as the asari approached the elevator and keyed something in beneath the pressure pad. It flashed red, and a cheerful automated voice responded. _“I’m sorry. The floor you have requested leads directly to the private residence of…_ Doctor Liara T’Soni,” her own voice interrupted. _“Would you like to establish a comm link and request access from the residence owner?”_

The woman huffed and activated her Omnitool, keying in a new code. A moment later, the doors to the elevator hissed open. Liara ducked closer to the wall as the asari stepped inside. This was probably her best chance to escape. Once the assassin was on the lift, she could make a break for the door, find her hovercar, and head for the Dracon Trade Center. Hopefully she would get there in time, and Shepard would only be a few minutes behind.

 

 


End file.
